Chapter 4

Humidity and
Rainfall
 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

Humidity
• Amount of water vapour in the air

Absolute humidity
• Actual amount of water vapour contained in the air at a
particular temperature

Relative humidity
• Ratio of the actual amount of water vapour in the air to
the maximum amount of water vapour the air can hold
at a particular temperature
• The higher the air temperature, the greater the capacity
of the air to carry water vapour
 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

Saturation
• Occurs when the air has
reached its maximum
capacity to hold water
vapour at a particular
temperature
• Relative humidity is 100%

Dew point
• Temperature at which a
given parcel of air
containing water vapour
reaches saturation point
Relative humidity (RH) varies
with temperature
 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

Measuring relative humidity

• Done using a hygrometer – consists of a dry bulb
thermometer and a wet bulb thermometer
• Dry bulb thermometer
measures the normal air
temperature
• Bulb of the wet bulb
thermometer is wrapped
with a muslin dipped in a
dish of water
• Evaporation of the water
from the muslin cools the
bulb, thus lowering the
temperature reading
 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

• Difference between the readings of the two

thermometers is called the wet bulb depression
• The wet bulb depression and the dry bulb thermometer
reading are checked against the relative humidity table
to obtain the relative humidity of the air
Relative humidity (%)
Wet bulb
Example:
3 4 5 6 7
depression (C) Wet bulb depression
35 80 74 68 63 57 = 31C – 26C
33 80 73 67 61 56 = 5C

Dry bulb 31 79 72 66 60 54 Dry bulb temperature

temperature 29 78 71 65 58 52 = 31C
(C) 27 77 70 63 56 50 Relative humidity
25 76 68 61 54 47 = 66%
23 75 67 59 52 45
 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

Humidity and clouds

• The greater the amount of water vapour in the
atmosphere, the greater the cloud cover

Transpiration Condensation
from plants due to fall in
temperature to
Amount of below dew point
water vapour
in the air
increases
Evaporation
from water
bodies
Water droplets in
the air form
clouds
 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

Types of clouds
1. High clouds
• Cloud base above 7km
• Consist of ice crystals
• E.g. cirrus, cirrostratus,
cirrocumulus

Cirrus clouds

2. Middle clouds
• Cloud base between
2km and 7km
• Consist of water droplets
• E.g. altocumulus,
altostratus

Altocumulus clouds
 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

3. Low clouds
• Cloud base below 2km
• Consist of water droplets
• E.g. stratus,
stratocumulus,
nimbostratus

Stratus clouds

4. Vertical clouds
• The base is generally in
the low cloud range but
the top reaches great
heights
• E.g. cumulus,
cumulonimbus
Cumulonimbus clouds
 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

Precipitation
• When the water droplets in clouds merge, they grow in
size and eventually become heavy enough to fall
towards the ground as precipitation
• Precipitation can occur in various forms
• Examples:
1. Rain – drops of water
2. Sleet – partly frozen raindrops
3. Hail – hard lumps of ice
4. Snow – ice crystals
 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

Rain Sleet

Hail Snow
 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

Types of rainfall
1. Orographic or relief rain
• Formed when warm moist air is forced to rise up a natural
barrier such as a hill or a mountain
 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

2. Convectional rain
• Formed when heating of the land causes the air just above it
to heat up and rise

Towering rain clouds build

up
Cool air at high altitude
results in the condensation
of water vapour after
reaching dew point

Condensation level

Rising warm Heavy rain accompanied by

moist air lightning

Heated ground surface

 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

3. Frontal or cyclonic rain

• Formed when a mass of warm moist air meets a mass of
cold air and is forced to rise over it
 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

Measuring rainfall
• Using a conventional rain gauge

1 = Metal funnel 5 = Measuring cylinder

2 = Outer copper casing 6 = Calibrated taper measure
3 = Glass bottle
4 = Copper cylinder
 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

• Using a tipping bucket rain gauge

Funnel

Tipping
bucket

Interior of
tipping bucket Pivot

Electrical
signal

Recorder
 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

Siting a rain gauge

• Location of the rain gauge determines the accuracy of
the readings
• It should be in an open area so as to collect rain from
every angle
• It should be sited away from objects such as buildings,
trees and walls from which rainwater can drip into the
rain gauge
• It should not be placed on hard surfaces as rain
splashing on the ground may get into the rain gauge
 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

Key rainfall statistics

1. Total monthly rainfall
– Sum of all daily rainfall readings recorded over a month

2. Total annual rainfall

– Sum of all total monthly rainfall readings recorded over a year
– Terms to describe total annual rainfall:
Low Less than 250mm
Moderate Between 250mm and 1,000mm
High More than 1,000mm

3. Mean annual rainfall

– Average annual rainfall over a period of 30 years
 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

Presenting rainfall data

• Rainfall data can be presented as a bar graph, often
together with a temperature line graph

Questions to ask:
– How is rainfall
distributed
throughout the
year ?
– Is there any
distinct wet or dry
season ?
– Which month has
the highest /
lowest rainfall?
 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

• Rainfall data can also be presented as an isohyet map

– Isohyets are lines on the map joining places that receive the
same amount of rainfall
 Chapter 4: Humidity and Rainfall

Rainfall and the environment

• Key component of the Earth’s water or hydrological
cycle
• Can trigger landslides or mudslides
• Too much rain can result in floods
• Powerful tool in
the weathering
process which
breaks down rocks

into soil

New Orleans floods after Katrina