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Calc-Relative Humidity PDF

Relative humidity is defined as the ratio of water vapor pressure to saturation vapor pressure. It is a measure of moisture in the air. Wet bulb temperature is commonly used to calculate vapor pressure and relative humidity, which involves a thermometer covered in muslin cloth soaked in water to cool below air temperature through evaporation. Dew point temperature also indicates atmospheric moisture and is the temperature at which moisture would condense as dew. Equations are provided to calculate relative humidity from wet bulb temperature, dry bulb temperature, and station pressure or from dry bulb temperature and dew point temperature.

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Sufian Sarwar
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124 views

Calc-Relative Humidity PDF

Relative humidity is defined as the ratio of water vapor pressure to saturation vapor pressure. It is a measure of moisture in the air. Wet bulb temperature is commonly used to calculate vapor pressure and relative humidity, which involves a thermometer covered in muslin cloth soaked in water to cool below air temperature through evaporation. Dew point temperature also indicates atmospheric moisture and is the temperature at which moisture would condense as dew. Equations are provided to calculate relative humidity from wet bulb temperature, dry bulb temperature, and station pressure or from dry bulb temperature and dew point temperature.

Uploaded by

Sufian Sarwar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CALCULATION OF RELATIVE HUMIDITY

Relative Humidity is by definition the percentage ratio of Vapour Pressure to Saturation Vapour
Pressure and is a commonly used indicator of the amount of moisture in the air. Although there are
instruments that can directly measure relative humidity, Wet Bulb Temperature is commonly measured to
enable the calculation of vapour pressure and thus relative humidity. Its measurement involves a mercury
thermometer with the bulb covered by the end of a muslin wick and the other end of the wick immersed in
water. Evaporation of water from the muslin cools the thermometer below the air temperature, or dry bulb
temperature, to a temperature determined by the evaporation rate, which in turn is related to the moisture
content of the air. Another common moisture parameter is Dew Point Temperature, which is calculated
from wet and dry bulb temperature or from relative humidity and dry bulb temperature. The dew point
temperature is a direct measure of the atmospheric moisture content and physically corresponds with the
temperature to which the air must be reduced for moisture in the air to condense and thus form dew.

The equations below are applicable only when the air temperature is greater than or equal to 0.0ºC. For
temperatures below 0.0ºC, the constants in the equations must be adjusted to reflect possible phase changes.

The following equations allow Relative Humidity to be calculated given the known parameters:

Wet Bulb Temperature, Dry Bulb Temperature, and Station Level Pressure

where U = Relative Humidity (%), T = Dry Bulb Temperature (°C), Tw = Wet Bulb Temperature (°C),
P = Station Level Pressure (hPa)

If pressure is not known, the following table of standard pressures can be used as a first guess.

Station Altitude (m) 0 - 250 251 - 500 501 - 750 1001 - 1250 1251 - 1500
Pressure (hPa) 998.3 969.0 940.4 912.5 885.2

The calculated relative humidity given an accurately measured station level pressure is expected to vary by
2-3% from the value calculated using a pressure from the above table.

Dry Bulb Temperature and Dew Point Temperature

where U = Relative Humidity (%),


T = Dry Bulb Temperature (°C),
Td = Dew Point Temperature (°C)

References:
Abbott, P.F., and Tabony, R.C. 1985. The estimation of humidity parameters. Met. Mag., 114, 49-56.
Bureau of Meteorology. 2003. Equipment Specification A2669. 215pp.

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