In the near-infrared and visible bandpasses optical propagation theory conventionally assumes that humidity does not contribute to the effects of atmospheric turbulence on optical beams. While this assumption may be reasonable for dry locations, we demonstrate that there is an unequivocal effect owing to the presence of humidity upon the strength of turbulence parameter, C(n)(2), from data coll...

We have used warm-season data from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program's Southern Great Plains site to investigate he joint variability of the temperature and moisture soundings, and their relationship tothe variability of the generalized convective available potential energy (GCAPE). The actual temperature and humidity soundings vary together in such a way as to produce variati...

[1] We use a fifty-year record of wintertime radiosonde observations at the South Pole to estimate the precipitable water vapor column (PWV) over the entire period. Humidity data from older radiosondes is of limited reliability; however, we think an estimation of PWV is possible using temperature data because the wintertime lower troposphere is very close to saturated. From temperature data we ...

A method is proposed to increase the accuracy of satellite sensorderived near-surface humidity estimates. The method uses an operational atmospheric circulation model to correct the satellite sensor estimates of humidity from their regional bias. The method was applied to twelve orbits of the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) selected between 1997 and 1998. The SSM/I-derived humidity esti...

Abundant evidence indicates that tropospheric specific humidity increases in a warmer atmosphere, at rates roughly comparable to those at constant relative humidity. While the implications for the planetary energy budget and global warming are well recognised, it is the net atmospheric cooling (or surface heating) that controls the hydrologic cycle. Relative humidity influences this directly th...

introduction water vapor is an essential climate element. through latent heat exchanges, the water vapor is considered as the principal way of energy transport through the global atmosphere and it is also a dominant greenhouse gas (held and soden, 2000). over the oceans, warmer surface temperatures may lead to increased evaporation and, therefore, greater specific humidity, but an approximately...

OBJECTIVE Hemoptysis is one of the most important and challenging symptoms in pulmonary medicine. Because of the increased number of patients with hemoptysis in certain periods of the year, we aimed to investigate whether atmospheric changes have an effect on the development of hemoptysis with or without a secondary cause. METHODS The data of patients presenting with hemoptysis between Januar...

An idealized model of advection and condensation of water vapor is considered as a representation of processes influencing the humidity distribution along isentropic surfaces in the free troposphere. Results are presented for how the mean relative humidity distribution varies in response to changes in the distribution of saturation specific humidity and in the amplitude of a tropical moisture s...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate retrospectively the relationship between meteorological factors in Shenmu County, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, China and the incidence of lower respiratory tract infections in children. METHODS Meteorological data (air temperature, atmospheric pressure, rainfall, hours of sunlight, wind speed and relative humidity) for Shenmu County and medical data from hospitalized pa...

Many species have been found to be capable of foliar water uptake, but little research has focused on this in desert plants. Tamarix ramosissima was investigated to determine whether its leaves can directly absorb water from high humidity atmosphere and, if they can, to understand the magnitude and importance of foliar water uptake. Various techniques were adopted to demonstrate foliar water up...