Alaska Ocean Observing System Data Management

The Data Management Team is located on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.

See information provided by the Anchorage Outreach team at www.aoos.org

Core Variables

Products

DATA ACCESS

Alaska Mapserver - see data collection for Relative Humidity

Data Portals: Relative Humidity imagery in the Latest Data Archive

Relative Humidity, RH

Humidity is the concentration of water vapor in the air. Humidity can as expressed as absolute humidity, specific humidity, or relative humidity.

Relative humidity is an important index in weather forecasts to predict the likelihood of precipitation, dew points or fog. Relative humidity is expressed as a ratio of actual water vapor in the air to a maximum theoretical water vapor (saturated). The capacity of air to hold water is dependent on temperature. Warmer air has more water vapor, due to changes in evaporation and thermal energy. When heat and humidity combine, the effect on the body is to slow the evaporation of sweat from the body.

The formula for relative humidity is:

Relative Humidity (RH) = Actual Water Vapor Density/Saturation Water Vapor Density x 100%

Vapor Density is the ratio of the weight of a given volume of one gas to the weight of an equal volume of another gas, typically hydrogen, at the same temperature and pressure. The dew point is the measure of water vapor density.

The Alaska Ocean Observing System is building a network of observation platforms and forecast models. The goal of this network is to provide information products and tools to improve our understanding of Alaska’s ocean ecosystem and allow us to make better decisions about our use of the marine environment.

AOOS is affiliated with the Integrated Ocean Observing System and the
University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.
UAF is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and educational institution.