Relation Between Temperature and Humidity

You must have seen the weather forecasting or basic weather details on the mobile phones etc which generally shows these two things i.e the temperature of the place and the humidity. These two are also related to each other and show great impact as well. They both lead to having impacts on the flora, fauna as well as the environment as well. In this article, we will be only discussing the relation between temperature and humidity and other related concepts where we learn about the meaning of temperature, humidity, types of humidity, the relation between humidity and temperature formula, dew point or moisture, etc.

Temperature Humidity Relationship

Temperature is something that tells us about the coldness or warmness of any object which is generally measured in celsius and Fahrenheit. It determines the intensity of the heat whereas if we talk about humidity, it talks about the water content that is present in the air, or simply we can say it determines the moisture of the air. These two concepts are different but show a great impact on each other. We will see the relation between temperature and humidity further below. Before that, let's understand more about humidity and its types.

Absolute Humidity & Relative Humidity

There are generally two types of humidity ie. absolute and relative. The former tells the humidity present in a parcel of air without taking temperature into consideration whereas the latter tells the humidity present in the air concerning the temperature of the air. The former defines the amount of water content by dividing the weight of the parcel by its volume whereas the latter is calculated by dividing the amount of water content present divided by the total capacity of the parcel of the air to hold multiplied by 100. The former decreases with height whereas the latter when reaching 100%, the air gets saturated.

Relation Between Relative Humidity and Temperature

We have already learned what is temperature and what is humidity and we have also learned two types of humidity. As we know, both these two concepts ie. Temperature and Humidity are different but they are related to each other. The relation between humidity and temperature formula simply says they are inversely proportional. If temperature increases it will lead to a decrease in relative humidity, thus the air will become drier whereas when temperature decreases, the air will become wet means the relative humidity will increase.

Here, in this graph, we can see that on the x-axis we have temperature whereas on the y - axis we have relative humidity, and the three different ranges in the graph shows which is an acceptable range and which is not. For example, a region with a temperature of 18° and relative humidity of 40% is considered too dry whereas the region with 23° temperature and 70% relative humidity comes in the range of too moist regions. The regions between these two extremes are acceptable such as regions with 24° temperature and 50% humidity. In this way, their relationship affects the region.

Relationship Between Humidity and Dew Point

Air usually contains moisture at a particular level and when the air contains this moisture up to its maximum capacity at a certain temperature, the air is said to be saturated which means at this point the air is not able to hold any more moisture content. The temperature at which the air gets saturated where it does not have any additional capacity to hold more moisture is known as the dew point. If we talk about the difference between relative humidity and dew point, the former is the concept that defines the presence of the water content in the air concerning the temperature whereas the latter one is the point of temperature where the air gets saturated. On the other hand, the air gets saturated when relative humidity reaches 100% which shows that now the air at a particular temperature does not have more capacity to hold the water content and this saturated air leads to the formation of the clouds which leads to various forms of precipitation. Thus, there is a direct relation between the relative humidity as well as the dew point.

At the dew point, it becomes difficult for the air to cool even more and it cannot hold more water content in the form of gas, thus it becomes necessary to come down in the form of droplets of precipitation. Usually, the higher dew point leads to having a higher moisture content in the air, which shows that it will be comfortable only when it flows out. Sometimes, if we talk about relative humidity, it can be misleading as well. If a region has a temperature of 40° with a dew point of 40 will lead to 100% relative humidity whereas, on the other hand, a region with a temperature of 80° with a dew point of 60 will lead to having 50% humidity. But in both cases, the regions with 80° temperature will feel more humidity than the other one which is having 100% relative humidity.

Relation Between Dew Point and Moisture Content

If we talk about the dew point, it is the point where the air gets saturated at a certain level. Usually, it is saturated at 100% relative Humidity whereas moisture is the water content present in the air. When the air gets saturated, it leads to the formation of clouds and then further leads to precipitation. When we move towards poles, the frequency of the cloud formation increases but there is no high rainfall whereas, at the equator, cloud formation does not occur so frequently but still there is heavy rainfall. In the colder areas, the air is almost saturated, thus frequent clouds form but in other warm areas air gets saturated only after reaching a certain height. This shows that it is not possible that rising air will get additional moisture from the troposphere. Air is not getting saturated because of getting additional moisture but because of the decreasing capacity of moisture. Thus, the frequency of the formation of clouds does not mean it will have more moisture and will lead to heavy precipitation nor does it mean that saturated air will surely lead to having extra moisture and will lead to heavy rainfall.

Relative Humidity

Water vapour, ice crystals, and precipitation all exist in the Earth's atmosphere. The percentage of water vapour in the air that fluctuates when the temperature changes are referred to as relative humidity. At constant pressure, a fully saturated parcel of air cannot retain any more water molecules, resulting in a relative humidity of 100 percent. The air can store more water molecules as the temperature rises, reducing the relative humidity. Relative humidity rises when the temperature drops. When the air temperature reaches the dew point value, the relative humidity of the air rises. As a result, the temperature has a direct relationship with the quantity of moisture that the atmosphere can store.

Dew Point

Dew is formed when the relative humidity hits 100%. The temperature at which water molecules saturate the air is referred to as the dew point. Warmer air can store more water molecules, and when it cools, that warm air loses water vapour through condensation. A higher dew point signifies more moisture in the air, resulting in oppressively humid conditions with the possibility for cloud and precipitation. When the dew point reaches the same temperature as the air, the air becomes saturated. Dew points of 55 or less are drier and more pleasant for people than higher dew points. In 2003, the highest recorded dew point was 95 in Saudi Arabia.

Conclusion

Thus, in the end, we can conclude that temperature and humidity are some of the most important and basic concepts of climatology where one is determining the heat level of the object or any area whereas the other defines the moisture content in the air. In this article, we have covered the relationship between relative humidity and temperature, along with the relation between humidity and temperature formula and other concepts such as absolute and relative humidity, dew point, etc. This topic will help you to get one of the most common, basic as well as important concepts of the climatology of Geography which helps in increasing your daily life knowledge.

Numerous meteorological events occur in the Earth's atmosphere, which has an impact on life and forms the planet. Understanding these occurrences necessitates an understanding of the temperature-humidity connection. Temperature influences humidity, which influences precipitation potential. Human health and well-being are also directly affected by the combination of temperature and humidity. The values of relative humidity and dew point, which are often employed by meteorologists, provide a way to comprehend this relationship.