Model HMP45C Temperature and Relative Humidity Probe
7. Absolute Humidity
The HMP45C measures the relative humidity. Relative humidity is defined by
the equation below:
100
e
e
RH
s
∗= (2)
where RH is the relative humidity, e is the vapor pressure in kPa , and es is the
saturation vapor pressure in kPa. The vapor pressure, e, is an absolute measure
of the amount of water vapor in the air and is related to the dew point
temperature. The saturation vapor pressure is the maximum amount of water
vapor that air can hold at a given air temperature. The relationship between
dew point and vapor pressure, and air temperature and saturation vapor
pressure are given by Goff and Gratch (1946), Lowe (1977), and Weiss
(1977).
When the air temperature increases, so does the saturation vapor pressure.
Conversely, a decrease in air temperature causes a corresponding decrease in
saturation vapor pressure. It follows then from Eq. (2) that a change in air
temperature will change the relative humidity, without causing a change
absolute humidity.
For example, for an air temperature of 20°C and a vapor pressure of 1.17 kPa,
the saturation vapor pressure is 2.34 kPa and the relative humidity is 50%. If
the air temperature is increased by 5°C and no moisture is added or removed
rom the air, the saturation vapor pressure increases to 3.17 kPa and the
relative humidity decreases to 36.9%. After the increase in air temperature, the
air can hold more water vapor. However, the actual amount of water vapor in
the air has not changed. Thus, the amount of water vapor in the air, relative to
saturation, has decreased.
Because of the inverse relationship between relative humidity and air
temperature, finding the mean relative humidity is meaningless. A more useful
quantity is the mean vapor pressure. The mean vapor pressure can be
computed on-line by the datalogger as shown in the following examples.
12
TABLE 7-1. Wiring for Vapor Pressure Examples
Color Description CR1000 CR10(X)
Yellow Temperature SE 2 (1L) SE 3 (2H)
Blue Relative Humidity SE 1 (1H) SE 4 (2L)
Purple Signal Reference
AG
Jumper from
SW12V Control
Red Power SW12V SW12 V
Black Power Ground
AG
Clear Shield
G