Accessing barometer data from Lumia 1020

Question

Apparently the Lumia 1020 has a barometer. See the "Extra Features" section in the link below.

http://developer.nokia.com/Devices/Device_specifications/Lumia_1020/

I would like to know how to access elevation data directly from the barometer. Right now I have access to elevation data from the Geolocator object in the Windows.Devices.Geolocation namespace, but it's giving me back elevation from the GPS signal, not from the barometer. I know this because the Geolocator object's Altitude property varies by tens of meters while at constant elevation over a period of minutes while the phone is just sitting on the table. The barometer should vary on the order of centimeters.

Any ideas? Perhaps it will just be a matter of time before we can see an update in the Windows Phone SDK?

Answer 1

The Galaxy Nexus has a barometer too, but it's only used to feed a known piece of data into the GPS to obtain a lock faster (one less variable to solve for). It is completely unavailable for any other use. I suspect that it's the same for this device. Why would you need barometer altitude when you have GPS?

Here's a reference for the Nexus: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/20/galaxy-nexus-barometer-explained-sam-champion-not-out-of-a-job/

Well... "It's there, why not make it available?" was my question when I learned of this.