Pitot pressure is the pressure that can be measured by a
Pitot tube, with an open-ended tube facing into the oncoming fluid with the other end closed off. The stationary fluid can be connected to a pressure-measuring device, or used in various devices. For subsonic flow, pitot pressure is equal to the
stagnation pressure
In fluid dynamics, stagnation pressure, also
referred to as total pressure, is what the pressure would be if all the kinetic energy of the fluid were to be converted into pressure in a reversable manner.; it is defined as the sum of the free-strea ...
(or total pressure) of the flow, and hence the term pitot pressure is often used interchangeably with these other terms. For supersonic flow, however, pitot pressure is the stagnation pressure of the flow behind the normal shock ahead of the pitot tube. Pitot pressure is named for
Henri Pitot, French scientist.
References
Pressure
{{Measurement-stub