Moisture in the Atmosphere (Dew-point)
• When the air is holding as much moisture, or water vapor, as it can, it is said to be saturated.
• Hotter air is able to hold much more moisture than colder air. As air warms, for every 10°C
increase in temperature, the air can hold twice as much moisture.
• If you take an unsaturated air mass and cool it, it will eventually become saturated. The
temperature at which it becomes saturated is known as the dew-point.
Measuring Moisture in the Atmosphere
• A sling psychrometer is used to measure the
amount of moisture in the air.
• To calculate the dew point, you must also use
the “Dew-point Temperatures” ESRT.
• A sling psychrometer is made of two
thermometers connected together on a
handle that allows them to be swung through
the air. One thermometer has a wet piece of
cloth over the bulb (known as the wet-bulb),
the other is dry (known as the dry-bulb). As you
swing the psychrometer around the water on
the wet-bulb will evaporate, removing heat
energy from the air causing that thermometer
to record a lower temperature. The dry-bulb simply records the actual air temperature.
The wet-bulb temperature will always be lower than the dry-bulb temperature.
•To find the dew-point, record the dry and wet-
bulb temperatures. Find the dry-bulb
temperature on the left side of the “Dew-point
Temperatures” ESRT, then find the difference
between the wet and dry-bulbs, also known as
the wet-bulb depression, on the top of the
chart. Where these rows meet, you will see the
dew-point.
•The drier the air, the further the dew-point will
be from the actual temperature.
•The more moisture in the air, the closer the
dew-point will be to the air temperature.
•When the dew-point equals the air
temperature, the air is saturated, clouds will form and precipitation is likely.
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Absolute and Relative Humidity
• Absolute humidity refers to the measured amount of moisture in the air (i.e. 50 ml)
• Relative humidity refers to how full of moisture the air is.”
• It is a comparison of how much moisture there is in the air, compared to how much it would
take for the air to be saturated at that temperature.
• Remember! Warmer air can hold more moisture than cooler air.
• When air is saturated, it is said to have
a relative humidity of 100%.
• If the relative humidity is 50%, it means
the air is holding half as much moisture
as it is capable of at that temperature.
• Generally speaking, as temperature
decreases, relative humidity will go up
because colder air has less available
“space” to hold the moisture.
• Both the amount of moisture and the
temperature affect the relative
humidity.
• As the temperature of the air drops
closer to the dew-point, the relative humidity approaches 100%.
Calculating Relative Humidity
•Determining the relative humidity is
the same process as determining
dew-point, except you must use the
relative humidity chart instead of the
dew point chart.
•Refer to the “Relative Humidity”
chart in the ESRTs
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