The Relationship Between Air Temperature and Relative Humidity

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The graph describes the connection between relative humidity and temperature as well as the variations in these two parameters at different times of the day. The overall relationships exhibited are that the relative humidity increases as temperature reduces and vice versa. The peak relative humidity is measured at 6 am, which corresponds to the lowest temperature. Conversely, the highest temperature is measured at around 4 pm, which also corresponds to the lowest relative humidity.

Relative humidity denotes the proportion of water vapor that is contained in a specified volume of air compared to the maximum amount of vapor that can be held at a given temperature. The changes in relative humidity with temperature are linked to the effect of temperature on saturation vapor pressure (Ahrens and Henson 85). Increases in air temperature are caused by solar radiation taken in by the atmosphere and emitted by the earth. A temperature increase boosts the kinetic energy of water molecules, allowing them to break free and evaporate, which increases the vapor pressure. Therefore, warm air requires a lot of moisture for saturation and can hold a lot of water molecules. Consequently, the relative humidity is low at high temperatures if the amount of water in the air remains constant. In contrast, cold air can hold less water than warm air. Reductions in temperatures lower the kinetic energy of water. There is minimal to no evaporation of water, which reduces the vapor pressure. Assuming that the amount of water vapor is constant, reductions in temperature lead to an increase in relative humidity because there is more water in liquid form compared to the maximum capacity of water vapor for that temperature.

Work Cited

Ahrens, C. Donald, and Robert Henson. Essentials of Meteorology: An Invitation to the Atmosphere. 8th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.

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