Absolute Humidity Calculator

As we know, humidity is the measure of the water vapor in the air expressed as a percentage. Absolute humidity is the actual amount of water in the air. Use this tool to calculate that.

Required Information

Absolute Humidity:

What it is

What is Absolute Humidity?

Create Date: October 17, 2024

Last Modified Date: January 21, 2025

Absolute humidity is the actual amount of water in the air, not a percentage of the air that has water vapor like relative humidity measures.

How do you Calculate Absolute Humidity?

To calculate absolute humidity you only need a couple of variables. The formula for solving absolute humidity is:

An image showing the formula for finding the abolsute humidity value.
Where:
  • AH = Absolute Humidity

  • AVP = Actual Vapor Pressure (in hPa)

  • C = Temperature in Celsius

Understanding Your Results

Your result from this calculator is a single value, the absolute humidity of your specific scenario. It is the total amount of water in the air based on your entries. It is by default displayed as pounds per cubic feet but can be changed into other units of measurement as well.

How to Use the Absolute Humidity Tool

Calculating the absolute humidity of a certain environment is very easy to do with this tool. The steps required to use this tool and get your answer include:

  1. Enter the relative humidity percent into the first field. Do not enter the percent symbol simply enter the numerical value only.

  2. Enter the temperature of the air of your scenario. Change the unit of temperature from Fahrenheit if needed.

  3. Hit calculate and get your absolute humidity value instantly!

Example Calculation

Let's say where you are it is currently 50 degrees Fahrenheit and the relative humidity is at 40%. To find the absolute humidity you can enter 40 into the first field and then enter 50 into the second one. We can then hit calculate and get an answer of .002345 pounds per cubic feet.

The History of Absolute Humidity

Absolute humidity is a metric that is important in meteorology. But this topic has been known of for thousands of years. Going back to BC times when Aristotle was alive, he had actually written down the fact that the air could hold water vapor in his treatise titled Meteorology, but he did not have the tools at the time to measure it or confirm his suspicion. It turns out that he was correct and was well ahead of his time in his understanding of the world.

We can then jump forward in time to the 16th and 17th century when the atmosphere began to be studied and became a subject of curiosity. This is when a tool was invented to measure the moisture in the air, called the hygrometer. While it wasn't perfect it was the first major recorded step in human's understanding humidity and the water vapor in the air.

Now modern day we have the ability to measure this with more advanced tools. It is now a standard measurement that is done routinely and can be found out by nearly anyone.

Absolute Humidity - Frequently Asked Questions

As temperature increases, the amount of water vapor that air can hold also increases, which can lead to higher absolute humidity values.

Absolute humidity is typically measured in grams per cubic meter (g/m³) or kilograms per cubic meter (kg/m³).

Yes, absolute humidity is the actual amount of water vapor in the air, whereas relative humidity is the ratio of the current amount of water vapor to the maximum amount of water vapor air can hold at a given temperature.

Page Glossary

Understanding absolute humidity can be difficult if some of the terms and keywords used are not ones you understand. Here we shed some more light on some of these terms.


Term Definition
Hygrometer A tool that is used to measure the humidity in the air.
Water vapor Water vapor is the gaseous phase of water and is one of the most important greenhouse gases in our atmosphere on Earth.

Interesting Facts Absolute Humidity

There are many interesting things that can be shared about absolute humidity. Here are some of our favorites.

Absolute humidity can be measured from space by satellites. These images and readings are then used to help predict weather patterns as well as other atmospheric values.

Humid air is lighter than dry air. This is because water vapor is less dense than the nitrogen and oxygen molecules that it replaces.

It is believed that the sweet-spot for humans and our optimal comfort is about 4 to 10 grams per meter cubed.

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