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Elevation Gain and Loss give different results on different tables. Todays run says 322 ft elevation Gain on table 3, but 322 metres on table 2. Strava gives me 1246 ft elevation gain. What is going on - something is wrong? Forerunner 235.

Former Member over 5 years ago

Forerunner 235 elevation wrong. Feet and metres confused, and different to Strava? Must be recording data ok in watch - it's the app not showing correct details if Strava gets it right

0 tmk2 over 5 years ago

The FR235 does not have a barometric altimeter, so elevation gain calculated by the watch can be very inaccurate. This is why Garmin Connect uses so called "Elevation correction" for devices without altimeter, meaning that Garmin Connect recalculates elevation data after the activity is uploaded to Garmin Connect. And this is probably why you see different result in Garmin Connect and in Strava.

And the feet vs meters issue is probably some text label error.

0 Former Member over 5 years ago in reply to tmk2

Thanks for this. Is barometric altitude calculation superior to elevation correction software - or does it just depend on the quality of the software? Presumably Garmin connect and Strava are both using their own individual software to calculate the altitude shown in the their respective apps when there is no barometric data available.

0 tmk2 over 5 years ago in reply to Former Member

Is barometric altitude calculation superior to elevation correction software - or does it just depend on the quality of the software?

It depends. Barometric altitude gives usually better altitude change data, given the barometer operates normally. Elevation correction relies not so much on software, but rather on elevation data available in the database. Generally, this kind of elevation data is quite crude, does not take into account man made objects, and the precision and quality varies depending on region. And it works on the assumption that you are moving on the ground.

Presumably Garmin connect and Strava are both using their own individual software to calculate the altitude shown in the their respective apps when there is no barometric data available.

I would rather suspect that strava uses GPS altitude from the activity file. Devices without barometric altitude still have GPS altitude available, but in most cases this is the worst, especially for elevation gain calculation.