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| Humidity and hygrometry |
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| Specific concepts |
| General concepts |
| Measures and instruments |
Thedew point depression (T-Td) is the difference between thetemperature anddew point temperature at a certain height in theatmosphere. A lower dew point depression indicates that the air is more moist at a given temperature.[1]: 83
For a constant temperature, the smaller the difference, the moremoisture there is, and the higher therelative humidity. In the lowertroposphere, more moisture (small dew point depression) results in lowercloud bases andlifted condensation levels (LCL). LCL height is an important factor modulating severethunderstorms. One example concernstornadogenesis, with tornadoes most likely if the dew point depression is 20 °F (11 °C) or less, and the likelihood of large, intensetornadoes increasing as dew point depression decreases. LCL height also factors indownburst andmicroburst activity. Conversely, instability is increased when there is a mid-level dry layer (large dew point depression) known as a "dry punch", which is favorable forconvection if the lower layer isbuoyant.[citation needed]
As it measures moisture content in the atmosphere, the dew point depression is also an important indicator in agricultural and forest meteorology, particularly in predictingwildfires.[2]
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