Atmospheric Humidity
Humidity
Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Liquid water converted into
water vapor by evaporation for which necessary energy is provided by solar radiation in the
form of temperature. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the
human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present.
Humidity depends on the temperature and pressure of the system of interest. Higher the
temperature, more is the amount of water vapor that can be held by atmosphere.
Absolute humidity
It denotes the actual mass of water vapor in given volume of air. It may be expressed as the
number of grams of water vapor in a cubic meter of moist air or mass of water vapor per unit
volume of air (g/m3).
𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟
𝐴𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑖𝑟
Specific humidity
It is defined as the moisture content of moist air as determined by the ratio of the mass of water
vapor to the mass of moist air in which the mass of water vapor is contained (g/kg).
𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟
𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟
Relative humidity
Relative humidity is a common parameter for expressing water vapor content of the air. It is
the percentage of water vapor present in the air in comparison with saturated condition at a
given temperature and pressure.
𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑖𝑟
𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑅𝐻) = × 100
𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
Mixing ratio
The mass of water vapor per unit mass of dry air is a convenient parameter to express the
relative composition of the mixture. It is defined as the ratio of the mass of water vapor to the
mass of dry air with which the water vapor is associated.
Dewpoint
The temperature at which saturation occurs in a given mass of air. The dewpoint temperature
is often compared with the temperature of free air and also used to predict the occurrence of
fog, dew, frost or precipitation.
Vapor pressure
This is the amount of partial pressure created by water vapor in the air expressed in the units
of millibar (or) inches of mercury.
Saturation vapor pressure
When air contains all the moisture that it can hold to its maximum limit, it is called as saturated
air, otherwise it is unsaturated air, at that temperature. The vapor pressure created at this
temperature under saturated conditions is saturated vapor pressure (SVP).
Vapor Pressure deficit
The difference between the saturated vapor pressure (SVP) and actual vapor pressure (AVP)
at a given temperature. This is another measure of moisture in the atmosphere which is useful
in crop growth studies. When the vapor pressure deficit is <1.5 kPa (kilo Pascals), air is said to
be humid, and when >2.5 kPa, it is dry air.
Variation in Humidity
1. Absolute humidity is highest at the equator and minimum at the poles.
2. Absolute humidity is minimum at sunrise and maximum in afternoon from 2 to 3 pm.
3. Relative humidity is maximum at about the sunrise and minimum between 2 to 3 pm.
Measurement
• The instrument to measure RH – psychrometer or hygrometer.
• RH at crop canopy – Assman’s psychrometer.
• RH inside the room – Hair hygrometer.
• Record humidity continuously – Hygrograph.
