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Vedaniti,
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Humidity
What is Humidity?
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atmospheric gas. The more water in the vapour, the higher the humidity. Humidity arises from
water evaporating from places like lakes and oceans. Warm water evaporates quickly. That's
why, you may find the most humid regions near to warm water bodies in places like the Red
Sea, the Persian Gulf, and Miami.
Here, we will learn about the humidity and its types viz: specific, relative, and absolute humidity.
Types of Humidity
+ Relative humidity
* Specific humidity
* Absolute humidity
Relative Humidity
A meteorologist uses the term ‘relative humidity’. The relative humidity is a comparison of the
amount of moisture present in the air to the amount of moisture air can hold. The amount of
moisture the atmosphere can hold totally depends on the temperature.
The formula for the relative humidity is given by:
Relative Humidity = Actual amount of water in the air/saturated amount of moisture in the air
can hold at that temperature
The relative humidity is the function of both water content (moisture) and the temperature.
Point to Remember
The relative humidity is 100% when the air is saturated with water vapour and 0% when no
vapour is present in the atmosphere.Vedaniti,
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Relative Humidity Explained
Think of the atmosphere as a sponge and it is capable of absorbing a fixed amount of water,
i.e., a mug of water. Now, think of a rise in temperature as an increase in the sponge size.
When the sponge has no water, it means the relative humidity is zero. Now, pour a half bucket
of water on the sponge, the relative humidity reaches 50%.
We know that a sponge saturated with a half mug of water has 50% humidity, on increasing the
size of the sponge (increasing the temperature) without adding water further, the relative
humidity decreases because the sponge becomes bigger and is capable to take on water
vapour; however, the amount of water remains the same.
Soaking a sponge (atmosphere) with water more than the capacity it can hold can lead to
dripping; however, it doesn’t symbolize rainfall. So, how does rainfall occur?
Rainfall
Rainfall occurs when the rising air cannot hold enough water molecules that are gathered in the
form of clouds in the sky.
Specific Humidity
* We define specific humidity as the mass of water vapour present in a given unit mass of
moist air.
(Image will be uploaded soon)
+ Specific humidity is equal to the ratio of water vapour mass and the air parcel's total
(including dry) air mass.
* Specific humidity is also known as the humidity ratio. It does not change with the
expansion or compression of an air parcel.
* We usually express specific heat as grams of vapour per kg of air, of in air conditioning
as grains per pound.
+ The specific humidity has great usage in meteorology.
Absolute Humit
ity
We define the absolute humidity in the two following sentences:Vedaniti,
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* Absolute humidity is equal to the mass of water vapour per unit of volume of air, Le.,
grams of water/cm® of air. The formula for the absolute humidity is given by:
Absolute humidity = Mass of water/volume in cm?
* Absolute humidity does not take temperature into consideration.
Absolute humidity in the atmosphere is between zero and approximately 30 gm/m? when the
air is saturated at 30°C
Dew point is frequently cited as a more accurate way of evaluating the humidity and comfort of
the air than relative humidity because it is an absolute measurement, unlike relative humidity.
When the dewpoint and temperature are the same, the relative humidity is 100 percent.
Condensation will occur if the temperature falls lower, and liquid water will form.
If the relative humidity is 100 percent, which means the dew point temperature and absolute air
temperature are both the same, precipitation is unlikely. It simply indicates that the maximum.
amount of moisture in the air is present at the current temperature. Fog on the surface and
clouds in the sky, which are made up of microscopic water droplets suspended in the air, can
develop from saturation.
While dew point provides a quick indication of air moisture content, relative humidity does not
since humidity is proportional to air temperature. It can be put another way. One can calculate
relative humidity based on the dew point. Also, the actual air temperature must be known in
that case.
The actual saturation vapour pressure ratio is also known as relative humidity, where the real
vapour pressure is a measurement of the amount of water vapour in a volume of air that rises
with the amount of water vapour.
At any given temperature, saturated vapour pressure is the greatest Vapor Pressure that can
exist.Vedaniti,
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Water vapour, whose VP is its SVP at the given temperature, exists in the air with relative
humidity (RH) of 100 percent. This is equivalent to air in a state of equilibrium with liquid water.
RH is the percentage representation of the VP/SVP ratio. ‘dry’ air will contain water vapour at
the given temperature with a VP smaller than the SVP.
Effects of Humidity
Humidity can cause various uncomfortable conditions, let's discuss these one-by-one
* Bacteria and viruses spread easily in humid conditions because of which people often
fall sick, especially from respiratory issues.
* When the relative humidity goes above 60%, the viruses spread among people, and they
get ill.
* The rise in the moisture content of air leads to the rise in temperature because of which
the evaporation rate of sweat from our bodies slows. This slowdown leads to the
following problems:
1. Overheating in our bodies
2. Exhausts easily, and
3. Consequences are lethal to health like Altered blood circulation, increased respiration
rate, and sweating
4. During humidity, higher levels of dust mites and fungi lead to allergies among people.
5. The spread of airborne chemical contaminants.
6. Detrimental to asthma sufferers.
What Method is Used to Determine Humidity?
A hygrometer is mainly used to measure relative humidity. The basic hygrometer is a sling
psychrometer consisting of two thermometers connected by a chain and a handle. A single
thermometer is standard. The other is a wet-bulb thermometer, a cotton wick over its bulb. The
temperature of the air is measured with a dry bulb thermometer.Vedaniti,
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On the other hand, the wet-bulb thermometer has a moist cloth at the tip. As water molecules
evaporate from the wet bulb’s surface, they carry heat with them, decreasing the thermometer's
reading. The vapour pressure, or the amount of water vapour in the air, determines the
evaporation rate. No water will evaporate from the wet bulb at 100 percent relative humidity,
and the readings on both thermometers will be the same. In a graph, comparing the two
temperatures yields relative humidity results.
Fun Facts
+ In 1783, a person named Horace Bénédict de Saussure was the person to build the first
hygrometer with hair. A hygrometer is a humidity measuring device.
* Humidity provides us with a tonal language
Our vocal cords consist of a pair of mucus membranes that stretch across the larynx (our voice
box). These membranes vibrate, controlling the air from the lungs that flow as we speak or
sing, It means the level of moisture present in the air affects the elasticity of our vocal cords.
Singers can tell us how hard it is to carry a tune in a dry environment.
+ As per the latest research, we are better at detecting smells in a humid environment
because, in heat and high humidity, there are more water molecules in the air to bind and
carry odorous particles into our nostrils.
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