Absolute humidity

Absolute humidity is the vapour concentration or density in the air. If m_v is the mass of vapour in a volume of air, then absolute humidity d_v is simply d_v = m_v/ V, in which V is the volume and d_v is expressed in grams per cubic metre. This index indicates how much vapour a beam of radiation must pass through. The ultimate standard in humidity measurement is made by weighing the amount of water gained by an absorber when a known volume of air passes through it; this measures absolute humidity, which may vary from 0 gram per cubic metre in dry air to 30 grams per cubic metre (0.03 ounce per cubic foot) when the vapour is saturated at 30 °C. The d_v of a parcel of air changes, however, with temperature or pressure even though no water is added or removed, because, as the gas equation states, the volume V increases with the absolute, or Kelvin, temperature and decreases with the pressure.

Specific humidity

The meteorologist requires an index of humidity that does not change with pressure or temperature. A property of this sort will identify an air mass when it is cooled or when it rises to lower pressures aloft without losing or gaining water vapour. Because all the gases will expand equally, the ratios of the weight of water to the weight of dry air, or the dry air plus vapour, will be conserved during such changes and will continue identifying the air mass.

The mixing ratio r is the dimensionless ratio r = m_v/ m_a, where m_a is the mass of dry air, and the specific humidity q is another dimensionless ratio q = m_v/ (m_a + m_v). Because m_v is less than 3 percent of m_a at normal pressure and temperatures cooler than 30 °C, r and q are practically equal. These indexes are usually expressed in grams per kilogram because they are so small; the values range from 0 grams per kilogram in dry air to 28 grams per kilogram in saturated air at 30 °C. Absolute and specific humidity indexes have specialized uses, so they are not familiar to most people.

Relative humidity

Relative humidity (U) is so commonly used that a statement of humidity, without a qualifying adjective, can be assumed to be relative humidity. U can be defined, then, in terms of the mixing ratio r that was introduced above. U = 100r/ r_w, which is a dimensionless percentage. The divisor r_w is the saturation mixing ratio, or the vapour capacity. Relative humidity is therefore the water vapour content of the air relative to its content at saturation. Because the saturation mixing ratio is a function of pressure, and especially of temperature, the relative humidity is a combined index of the environment that reflects more than water content. In many climates the relative humidity rises to about 100 percent at dawn and falls to 50 percent by noon. A relative humidity of 50 percent may reflect many different quantities of vapour per volume of air or gram of air, and it will not likely be proportional to evaporation.

An understanding of relative humidity thus requires a knowledge of saturated vapour, which will be discussed later in the section on the relation between temperature and humidity. At this point, however, the relation between U and the absorption and retention of water from the air must be considered. Small pores retain water more strongly than large pores; thus, when a porous material is set out in the air, all pores larger than a certain size (which can be calculated from the relative humidity of the air) are dried out.

The water content of a porous material at air temperature is fairly well indicated by the relative humidity. The complexity of actual pore sizes and the viscosity of the water passing through them makes the relation between U and moisture in the porous material imperfect and slowly achieved. The great suction also strains the walls of the capillaries, and the consequent shrinkage is used to measure relative humidity.

The absorption of water by salt solutions is also related to relative humidity without much effect of temperature. The air above water saturated with sodium chloride is maintained at 75 to 76 percent relative humidity at a temperature between 0 and 40 °C (32 and 104 °F).

In effect, relative humidity is a widely used environmental indicator, but U does respond drastically to changes in temperatures as well as moisture, a response caused by the effect of temperature upon the divisor r_W in U.