Altitude is height above what?
the water table
the earth's core
the earth's surface
sea level
Altitude is height above sea level. The density of air decreases with height. There are two reasons. At higher altitudes, there is less air pushing down from above. Also, gravity is weaker farther from Earth's center. So at higher altitudes, air molecules can spread out more. Air density decreases. You can see this in Figure below .