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Humidity and Forms of Condensation

Humidity refers to the amount of water vapor in the air. It is measured as relative humidity, which is the current water amount compared to the maximum possible at that temperature. Warm air can hold more water vapor than cold air before reaching saturation at 100% relative humidity. When air reaches saturation, further cooling causes condensation and precipitation.

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107 views

Humidity and Forms of Condensation

Humidity refers to the amount of water vapor in the air. It is measured as relative humidity, which is the current water amount compared to the maximum possible at that temperature. Warm air can hold more water vapor than cold air before reaching saturation at 100% relative humidity. When air reaches saturation, further cooling causes condensation and precipitation.

Uploaded by

James Nair
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Humidity is:

• A measure of the amount of water


in the air
• Water is added to the air by the process of
EVAPORATION.
Relative Humidity
• RELATIVE HUMIDITY is the amount of water
in the air compared to the amount of water
the air could possibly hold.
• Humidity values are usually given as Relative Humidity.
– Examples:

– if the air is holding half the water it could hold,


it’s Relative Humidity is 50%.
– If the air is holding ALL the water it can hold it is
saturated and the relative humidity is 100%
– If the air is holding no water, relative humidity is 0%
– If it holding a quarter of the water it could hold, 25%
What temperature can hold more water vapor?
Saturation
• If the air is SATURATED, it is holding ALL of the
water that it can hold.
– WARM air expands and can hold more water vapor
than COLD air, so it takes more water to saturate
warm air.
If the air is saturated, its Relative Humidity is 100%,
and if the temperature drops PRECIPITATION
will occur.
Factors that Affect Relative Humidity
1. Amount of water: If you increase the
amount of water in the air (by adding it
due to evaporation), Relative humidity will
go up.
2. Temperature: Since warm air can hold
more water than cold air, if you lower
the temperature the Relative Humidity
will go up, even if you don’t add more
water.
Water capacity of air at different
temperatures
Measuring Humidity
• Relative Humidity is measured using a
PSYCHROMETER.
– A psychrometer is made of two thermometers.
One is covered with a wet cloth. When air
moves over the wet cloth, evaporation occurs
and lowers the temperature on that thermometer.
If you compare the temperature on the two
thermometers you can get the relative humidity.
Ex. 1
Dry Bulb = 14 degrees C
Wet Bulb = 10 degrees C

Difference is 14-10 = 4

1st – look at dry bulb


reading (14)
2nd – find difference (4)
3rd – RH is where they
meet = 60%
Ex. 3
Dry Bulb = 6 degrees C
Wet Bulb = 6 degrees C

Difference is 6-6 = 0

RH = 100%
Forms of Condensation
• Condensation • The change from vapor to a
liquid-usually happens in the
atmosphere.
• Has to do with the airs humidity
and temperature.
• If the water vapor condenses
• Dew on surfaces such as grass, in
the form of a liquid, it is called
dew.
• Dew Point • The temperature at which saturation
occurs.
• Dew point can be at different temps. It
depends on the amount of water vapor
in the air.
• The more water vapor the air starts
with the higher its dew point.
• Condensation • In order for condensation to occur there
are two requirements.
• Cooling and Nuclei.
• Cooling can happen in 4 different ways.
– 1. Contacting a colder surface
– 2. Radiating heat
– 3. Mixing with colder air
– 4. Expanding when it rises
• Condensation • Water vapor needs to condense
Nuclei (CN) on something. The tiny
particles that water can
condense on in the air are CN.
• CN are usually substances such
as salt, sulfate particles, or
nitrate particles.
• The sulfates and nitrates come
from natural sources and from
burning of fuels.
• Salt enters the air by fine sea
spray.
• Frost • When the temp of the air is
below 0 degrees C then the
water vapor condenses as a
solid.
• -2 degrees C, liquid in the cells
of some plants may freeze.
• This freezing bursts the cell
walls and kills the plants.
• What causes killing frosts???
• Killing frosts are not caused by
the air temp but rather by the
temperature of the plant.
• Fogs • Often a surface layer of air a few
hundred meters thick is cooled below
the dew point. As water vapor
condenses throughout the entire
layer, tiny droplets fill the air and form
fog.
• Ground Fogs or • Form under conditions similar to those
Radiating fog that form dew.
• When the nighttime sky clears and the
ground loses heat rapidly by radiation.
If Light breezes mix the air. The
whole layer of air is cooled below the
dew point and fog forms.
• This happens near rivers and streams
during fall and winter months..
• Advection fog • Results when warm, moist air blows
over a cool surface.

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