Bluetooth Temperature Humidity Gauge for Android Smartphones

This post gives coding for temperature and dewpoint displays in both Fahrenheit and Celsius.

If you enjoy programming microcontrollers in Arduino IDE and building prototypes, this is a cool project to consider. It uses a battery powered ESP32-WROOM module with Bluetooth capability and a DHT11 or DHT22 temperature humidity sensor to transmit a set of four parameters that measure the comfort of your environment to an app on your Android smartphone. The prototype is portable (in principle wearable) and because it communicates via Bluetooth it doesn’t interrupt your phone’s internet connectivity.

Prototype construction

I used a 30-pin ESP32-WROOM microcontroller equipped with a DHT22 sensor on a standard 400 tie-point breadboard with power supplied from a 4 x AA Battery Case designed to deliver 5V via a USB jack. The sensor, mounted on a breakout board with a built-in pull-up resistor, is powered from the ESP32 (3V3, GND) with the signal routed to GPIO4. The Bluetooth app installed on my Android phone in the header picture is Serial Bluetooth Terminal by Kai Morich.

Comfort indicators

We human beings are equipped with sensory nerves that enable us to feel the Temperature of our surroundings, but it is the relation between temperature and humidity which really determines how comfortable our environment feels. Relative humidity is the percentage uptake of air’s water vapor carrying capacity,  but because this capacity rises and falls as air warms and cools it is not always the best guide to comfort. Absolute humidity measures the actual amount of water vapor in the air. In more temperate climates this is useful especially for indoor environments: 5 g/m3 or below feels dry, 8 – 11 g/m3 is comfortable, above 13 g/m3 starts getting clammy. For both indoor and outdoor environments, the Dewpoint temperature is a good measure for assessing comfort particularly during summer: a dewpoint of 13C/55F is comfortable, a dewpoint of 15C/60F is beginning to get clammy, while a dewpoint of 18C/65F is oppressive.

Useful reference provided by the US National Weather Service: https://www.weather.gov/lmk/humidity

Coding and Uploading

The coding below was compiled in the Arduino IDE programming environment.
NOTE 1: When ESP32 boards are installed, the BluetoothSerial.h library comes with it so you don’t need to install it separately.
NOTE 2: The declarations for ah, td and tdf must be on one line.
NOTE 3: The display is set to refresh every 30 seconds = 30000 milliseconds; this can be configured in the millisecond delay(30000) at the end of the code.
BEFORE UPLOAD: With the board connected to the USB, check under Tools menu that the correct board is chosen and that the relevant COM port is selected. Click Upload then press and hold down the BOOT/RESET button on the ESP32 and release it when the status message at the bottom of the IDE window shows “Connecting …….” When the sketch has loaded, open the Arduino IDE Serial Monitor, set the baud rate to 115200 and press the enable EN button on the ESP32 to start the device for Bluetooth pairing and check processing of data from the sensor.
Now you’re good to go with your smartphone Bluetooth app.

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Display in degrees Celsius
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/*
Bluetooth Temperature Humidity Gauge for Android Smartphones using an ESP32-WROOM
microprocessor equipped with a DHT22 or DHT11 RH&T sensor to pair with a Smartphone app
such as Serial Bluetooth Terminal. Variables displayed are relative humidity in %, absolute humidity in g/m3, temperature and dewpoint temperature in degrees Celsius. Program by Peter Mander, published August 2022 by CarnotCycle blog.
*/

#include “BluetoothSerial.h”
#include <DHT.h>
#include <DHT_U.h>
#include <math.h>

BluetoothSerial SerialBT;

#define DHTPIN 4
//#define DHTTYPE DHT22 //uncomment as necessary
//#define DHTTYPE DHT11 //uncomment as necessary
DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHTTYPE);
float rh, t, tp, ah, td;

void setup() {
Serial.begin(115200);
dht.begin();
SerialBT.begin(“ESP32”); // Bluetooth device name
Serial.println(“ESP32 ready to pair with Bluetooth”);
}

void loop() {
rh = dht.readHumidity(); //relative humidity in %
t = dht.readTemperature(); //temperature in Celsius
ah = (6.112*pow(2.71828,((17.67*t)/(243.5+t)))*rh*2.1674)/(273.15+t); // absolute humidity = water vapor density in g/m^3, formula P.Mander, 2012
td = 243.5*(log(rh/100)+((17.67*t)/(243.5+t)))/(17.67-log(rh/100)-((17.67*t)/(243.5+t))); // dew point temperature in Celsius, formula by P.Mander 2017
Serial.print(“Rel Humidity “); Serial.print(rh); Serial.println(” %”);
Serial.print(“Abs Humidity “); Serial.print(ah); Serial.println(” g/m3″);
Serial.print(“Temperature “); Serial.print(t); Serial.println(” deg C”);
Serial.print(“Dewpoint “); Serial.print(td); Serial.println(” deg C”);
Serial.println(” “);
SerialBT.print(“Rel Humidity “); SerialBT.print(rh); SerialBT.println(” %”);
SerialBT.print(“Abs Humidity “); SerialBT.print(ah); SerialBT.println(” g/m3″);
SerialBT.print(“Temperature “); SerialBT.print(t); SerialBT.println(” deg C”);
SerialBT.print(“Dewpoint “); SerialBT.print(td); SerialBT.println(” deg C”);
SerialBT.println(” “);
delay(30000);
}

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Display in degrees Fahrenheit
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/*
Bluetooth Temperature Humidity Gauge for Android Smartphones using an ESP32-WROOM
microprocessor equipped with a DHT22 or DHT11 RH&T sensor to pair with a Smartphone app
such as Serial Bluetooth Terminal. Variables displayed are relative humidity in %, absolute humidity in g/m3, temperature and dewpoint temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. Program by Peter Mander, published August 2022 by CarnotCycle blog.
*/

#include “BluetoothSerial.h”
#include <DHT.h>
#include <DHT_U.h>
#include <math.h>

BluetoothSerial SerialBT;

#define DHTPIN 4
//#define DHTTYPE DHT22 //uncomment as necessary
//#define DHTTYPE DHT11 //uncomment as necessary
DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHTTYPE);
float rh, t, tf, tp, ah, tdf;

void setup() {
Serial.begin(115200);
dht.begin();
SerialBT.begin(“ESP32”); // Bluetooth device name
Serial.println(“ESP32 ready to pair with Bluetooth”);
}

void loop() {
rh = dht.readHumidity(); //relative humidity in %
t = dht.readTemperature(); //temperature in Celsius
tf = t*9.0/5.0+32.0; //temperature in Fahrenheit
ah = (6.112*pow(2.71828,((17.67*t)/(243.5+t)))*rh*2.1674)/(273.15+t); // absolute humidity = water vapor density in g/m^3, formula P.Mander, 2012
tdf = 243.5*(log(rh/100)+((17.67*t)/(243.5+t)))/(17.67-log(rh/100)-((17.67*t)/(243.5+t)))*9.0/5.0+32.0; // dew point temperature in Fahrenheit, formula by P.Mander 2017
Serial.print(“Rel Humidity “); Serial.print(rh); Serial.println(” %”);
Serial.print(“Abs Humidity “); Serial.print(ah); Serial.println(” g/m3″);
Serial.print(“Temperature “); Serial.print(tf); Serial.println(” deg F”);
Serial.print(“Dewpoint “); Serial.print(tdf); Serial.println(” deg F”);
Serial.println(” “);
SerialBT.print(“Rel Humidity “); SerialBT.print(rh); SerialBT.println(” %”);
SerialBT.print(“Abs Humidity “); SerialBT.print(ah); SerialBT.println(” g/m3″);
SerialBT.print(“Temperature “); SerialBT.print(tf); SerialBT.println(” deg F”);
SerialBT.print(“Dewpoint “); SerialBT.print(tdf); SerialBT.println(” deg F”);
SerialBT.println(” “);
delay(30000);
}

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P. Mander August 2022

Advertisement

WiFi Temperature Humidity Gauge for Android Smartphones

As a follow-up to my 2018 Smart Temperature and Humidity Gauge here is a new and improved wireless version. A smartphone screen replaces the previous LCD display, allowing the data to be read remotely from the device location.

The WiFi-enabled microcontroller can be programmed to operate in Station mode, Access Point mode or both modes simultaneously so you can use the device at home, at work, on the beach, wherever you want to know the values of the parameters which determine your comfort.

The original Smart Gauge prototype with attached LCD display

The wireless function also enables you to read temperatures inside a closed compartment such as a fridge. By following the readings on your smartphone (I set mine to refresh every 20 secs) you can see what the upper and lower thermostat settings are. For example the air in the 4°C compartment of our fridge cycles between 2.9°C and 7.5°C. I was surprised by this to begin with, but then realized that things stored in fridges generally have significantly larger heat capacities than air so their temperatures will fluctuate over narrower ranges.

A sensor mounted on jumper leads is ideal for testing condenser coil ventilation on a fridge, with the sensor placed directly in the airflow of the lower inlet and upper outlet.

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Hardware

The CarnotCycleAIR Smart Gauge is built around an Arduino IDE compatible Sparkfun ESP8266 Thing Dev microcontroller featuring an integrated FTDI USB-to-Serial chip for easy programming. A 2-pin JST connector has been soldered to the footprint alongside the micro-USB port and the board is powered by a rechargeable 3.7V lithium polymer flat pouch battery which fits neatly underneath the standard 400 tie-point breadboard. The system is designed to work with DHT sensors such as the DHT22 with a temperature range of -40°C to +80°C and relative humidity range of 0-100%, or the DHT11 with a temperature range of 0°C to +50°C and relative humidity range of 20-90%. These are available mounted on 3-pin breakout boards which feature built-in pull-up resistors. Both sensors are designed to function on the 3.3V supplied by the board, enabling the signal output to be connected directly to one of the board’s I/O pins without the need for a logic level converter [the ESP8266’s I/O pins do not easily tolerate voltages higher than 3.3V. Using 5V will blow it up].

Note: Comparing temperature readings in ambient conditions with an accurate glass thermometer has shown that when the sensors are plugged directly into the breadboard they record a temperature approx. 1°C higher than the true temperature, which in turn affects the accuracy of the computed absolute humidity and dewpoint. The cause appears to be Joule heating in the breadboard circuitry. Using jumper leads to distance the sensor from the board solves the problem.

The DHT22 sensor works happily down to –40°C, as does the new absolute humidity formula.

When used in Station mode the range is determined largely by the router. In Access Point mode where the device and smartphone communicate directly with each other, the default PCB trace antenna was found to work really well with an obstacle-free range of at least 35 meters (115 feet).

A Sparkfun LiPo Charger Basic, an incredibly tiny device just 3 cm long with a JST connector at one end and a micro-USB connector at the other, was used to recharge the battery. Charging time was about 4 hours.

The Sparkfun LiPo Charger Basic

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Circuitry

The circuitry for CarnotCycleAIR Smart Gauge couldn’t be simpler.

The ESP8266 (with header pins) is placed along the center of the breadboard and 3.3V is supplied to the power bus from the left header (3V3, GND). The DHT sensor is powered from this bus and the signal is routed to a suitable pin. I used pin 12 on the right header. That’s all there is to it.

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Coding extensions

CarnotCycleAIR Smart Gauge is a further development of an ESP8266 project – “ESP8266 NodeMCU Access Point (AP) for Web Server” – published online by Random Nerd Tutorials which displays temperature and relative humidity on a smartphone with the ESP8266 set up as an Access Point.

CarnotCycleAIR uses these variables to compute and display two further comfort parameters, Absolute Humidity and Dewpoint. If you are interested in building the CarnotCycleAIR Smart Gauge described in this blogpost, you will need to make extensions to the source code published online at https://randomnerdtutorials.com/esp8266-nodemcu-access-point-ap-web-server:

1. Declare global variables for absolute humidity and dewpoint. I named these variables ah and td (dewpoint is actually a temperature).
2. In the html add paragraphs for absolute humidity and dewpoint below those for temperature and relative humidity using the same format.
3. In the html add setInterval(function (){ … } coding for absolute humidity and dewpoint below those for temperature and relative humidity using the same format.
4. In void setup, add server.on coding for absolute humidity and dewpoint below those for temperature and relative humidity using the same format.
5. In void loop, add computation coding and serial print lines for absolute humidity and dewpoint. Place the code above the penultimate close brace. The formulas are published by CarnotCycle in the blogposts entitled “How to convert relative humidity to absolute humidity” and “Compute dewpoint temperature from RH&T”.

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© P Mander December 2021

Smart Temperature and Humidity Gauge

This prototype displays temperature, relative humidity, dew point temperature and absolute humidity

As shown in previous posts on the CarnotCycle blog, it is possible to compute dew point temperature and absolute humidity (defined as water vapor density in g/m^3) from ambient temperature and relative humidity. This adds value to the output of RH&T sensors like the DHT22 pictured above, and extends the range of useful parameters that can be displayed or toggled on temperature-humidity gauges employing these sensors.

Meteorological opinion* suggests that dew point temperature is a more dependable parameter than relative humidity for assessing climate comfort especially during summer, while absolute humidity quantifies water vapor in terms of mass per unit volume. In effect this added parameter turns an ordinary temperature-humidity gauge into a gas analyzer.

How to convert relative humidity to absolute humidity

Ventus W636 Weather Station with outdoor sensor

I have a digital weather station with a wireless outdoor sensor. In the photo, the top right quadrant of the display shows temperature and relative humidity for outdoors (6.2°C/94%) and indoors (21.6°C/55%).

I find this indoor-outdoor thing fascinating for some reason and revel in looking at the numbers. But when I do, I always end up asking myself if the air outside has more or less water vapor in it than the air inside. Simple question, which is more than can be said for the answer. Using the ideal gas law, the calculation of absolute humidity from temperature and relative humidity requires an added algorithm that generates saturation vapor pressure as a function of temperature, which complicates things a bit.

Formula for calculating absolute humidity

In the formula below, temperature (T) is expressed in degrees Celsius, relative humidity (rh) is expressed in %, and e is the base of natural logarithms 2.71828 [raised to the power of the contents of the square brackets]:

Absolute Humidity (grams/m³) = 6.112 × e^[(17.67 × T)/(T+243.5)] × rh × 18.02
                                                                            (273.15+T) × 100 × 0.08314

which simplifies to

Absolute Humidity (grams/m³) = 6.112 × e^[(17.67 × T)/(T+243.5)] × rh × 2.1674
                                                                                        (273.15+T)

This formula includes an expression for saturation vapor pressure (Bolton 1980) accurate to 0.1% over the temperature range -30°C≤T≤35°C (text edited 30.08.2021)

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Additional notes for students

Strategy for computing absolute humidity, defined as density in g/m^3 of water vapor, from temperature (T) and relative humidity (rh):

1. Water vapor is a gas whose behavior approximates that of an ideal gas at normally encountered atmospheric temperatures.

2. We can apply the ideal gas equation PV = nRT. The gas constant R and the variables T and V are known in this case (T is measured, V = 1 m³), but we need to calculate P before we can solve for n.

3. To obtain a value for P, we can use the following variant^{[REF, eq.10]} of the Magnus-Tetens formula which generates saturation vapor pressure P_sat (hectopascals) as a function of temperature T (Celsius):

P_sat = 6.112 × e^[(17.67 × T)/(T+243.5)]

4. P_sat is the pressure when the relative humidity is 100%. To compute the pressure P for any value of relative humidity expressed in %, we multiply the expression for P_sat by the factor (rh/100):

P = 6.112 × e^[(17.67 × T)/(T+243.5)] × (rh/100)

5. We now know P, V, R, T and can solve for n, which is the amount of water vapor in moles. This value is then multiplied by 18.02 – the molecular weight of water ­– to give the answer in grams.

6. Summary:
The formula for absolute humidity is derived from the ideal gas equation. It gives a statement of n solely in terms of the variables temperature (T)  and relative humidity (rh). Pressure is computed as a function of both these variables; the volume is specified (1 m³) and the gas constant R is known.

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UPDATES

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Simulating optimized dehumidifier performance

March 2023: In this mathematical modeling paper from Shandong University PRC and University of Nottingham UK published by the journal Energy, formulas for Mixing Ratio and Specific Humidity (where P_vap is the equilibrium vapor pressure for the dessicant solution) are calculated from atmospheric pressure, temperature and relative humidity using the absolute humidity computation formula originated and published here by CarnotCycle blog.

https://sci-hub.se/downloads/2020-07-20/36/li2019.pdf

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Getting smart with sensor deployment

February 2023: Sensors are increasingly used for monitoring the environment, but how many of them do we need to deploy in sites of interest? And what about areas of limited access? Researchers at the University of Exeter in the UK have used cluster analysis to address these questions, and in so doing have made innovative use of the absolute humidity computation formula originated and published here by CarnotCycle blog.

Download the paper “A cluster analysis approach to sampling domestic properties for sensor deployment” : https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/handle/10871/132393

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Absolute Humidity set to play a role in influenza forecasting

December 2022: A study published in Hygiene and Environmental Health Advances (December 2022) shows that influenza incidence is linked to low absolute humidity in the previous 1-2 weeks. The study was conducted using temperature and relative humidity measurements collected by NOAA in New York State, with absolute humidity calculated from this data using the formula published here by CarnotCycle. The authors state that the study’s findings can help develop an influenza forecasting model with its implied connotations for public health decision making.

Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S277304922200040X

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Fixing long-term stability issues will give PSCs a bright future

September 2022: Perovskite Solar Cells (PSCs) are a fast-advancing solar technology with a promising combination of high efficiency and low production costs. The big challenge for PSCs is long-term stability and the prevention of degradation by moisture. CarnotCycle is pleased to note that the absolute humidity computation formula published by this blog is proving useful in quantifying the uptake of water by perovskite films and thereby enhancing understanding of moisture-associated degradation processes.

Link: Detection and Estimation of Moisture in Hybrid Perovskite Photovoltaic Films

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Formula used to study effects of humidity on hospital cleanroom processes

August 2022: A recent study from the renowned Uppsala University.
Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0939641122001205

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Absolute humidity a key factor in respiratory disease mortality, suggests research

May 2022: A paper entitled “The role of absolute humidity in mortality in Guangzhou, a hot and wet city of South China” published by Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine in November 2021, concludes that absolute humidity is a significant factor in the mortality of respiratory disease, and that this finding has important implications for the development of public health measures to reduce its impact. The authors used the formula published here by CarnotCycle to calculate absolute humidity from temperature and relative humidity data collected over 5 years in Guangzhou City.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12199-021-01030-3

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Formula increases precision of Air Quality Sensor

February 2022: The Adafruit SGP30 is an indoor air quality monitoring sensor that detects a range of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and H2, returning a Total Volatile Organic Compound (TVOC) reading and an equivalent carbon dioxide (eCO2) reading based on H2 concentration. When coupled with a temperature and relative humidity sensor like the DHT22, the absolute humidity computation formula published here by CarnotCycle can be used as a compensation factor to increase precision of TVOC and eCO2.

Further details and references can be found in this paper published in January 2022 by Journal of Sensors and Sensor Systems:
https://jsss.copernicus.org/articles/11/29/2022/jsss-11-29-2022.pdf

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Lions utilize humid air to increase the range of their roar

December 2021: Researchers at the Universities of Oxford, Montpellier and Pretoria have discovered that African lions prefer to roar when atmospheric absolute humidity, as measured by the formula published here by CarnotCycle, is higher. This suggests lions instinctively know that moist air absorbs less energy than dry air, making their territorial roar louder and carrying further. The lion paper, submitted in November 2021 is the first of its kind and is available on the HAL open access archive via this link: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03426006

[As an aside – the author of CarnotCycle blog noticed this characteristic of moist air many years ago when living under the flight path of jets coming into Heathrow Airport. On days when the humidity was high, the sound of Concorde was absolutely deafening. On other days it was tolerable.]

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WiFi enabled Home Automation

November 2021: In connexion with the Absolute Humidity conversion formula published here, CarnotCycle has had some referrals from this well-organized IoT Home Automation concept site which uses AI technology to bridge between wireless devices and an RF transceiver as a central controller. The site features a lively discussion forum and webshop.

The microcontroller they build their wireless automation concept around is the ESP8266 with programming in the Arduino IDE environment. Although superseded in some respects by the ESP32 with its Bluetooth capability and greater number of GPIOs, the ESP8266 is still a very capable microcontroller whose power requirements are ideally suited to the space-saving rechargeable flat-pouch 3.7V LiPo battery.

https://www.letscontrolit.com

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Getting the best out of Temperature and Humidity sensors

September 2021: From GitHub, a simple way to extend the capability of inexpensive temperature and humidity sensors commonly used in home automation systems.

Use them to get four comfort parameters:
1. Temperature – an essential parameter for automating indoor comfort
2. Relative Humidity – the degree of atmospheric water vapor saturation, which gives a guide to comfort but varies with temperature for a given mass of vapor per unit volume
3. Absolute Humidity – independent of temperature and a key parameter for humidity control systems, especially useful for basements and crawlspaces
4. Dew Point Temperature – considered to be a more dependable parameter than relative humidity for assessing comfort, especially in warmer weather

The program uses the absolute humidity conversion formula (Mander 2012) and the dew point computation formula (Mander 2017), both published by CarnotCycle blog.

https://github.com/nielstron/humidity_control

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Formula used to study user comfort in sheet metal clad homes in Kenya

July 2021: A paper has been published in Africa Habitat Review Journal entitled “Thermal Conditions in Sheet Metal Clad Residential Buildings”. Using the absolute humidity conversion formula (Mander 2012) published by CarnotCycle blog, the research studied the thermal comfort and humidity conditions of simple galvanized sheet metal dwellings, noting that ventilation is commonly an issue and that the combination of high temperatures and high humidity is disruptive to sleep patterns. The paper also expresses the need for indoor thermal environment research to be conducted in tropical highland areas of Africa as available literature is based on studies from abroad.

http://uonjournals.uonbi.ac.ke/ojs/index.php/ahr/article/view/665

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Formula assists in study of shorebird habitats

May 2021: Researchers in Australia have used the absolute humidity conversion formula (Mander 2012) published by CarnotCycle blog to assess beach wrack habitats in relation to shorebird foraging and roosting behavior. Beach wrack is the mass of seaweed stuff washed up by the tide, which forms important microhabitats for these birds. Clearance of beach wrack by tidy-minded coastal authorities is uncool because it drives population declines in many shorebirds and harms biodiversity.

Link to research article abstract:
https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.13865

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Formula finds use in Antarctic climate research

December 2020: The absolute humidity conversion formula (Mander 2012) published by CarnotCycle blog is utilized for mapping Polar air mass movements in “Summer aerosol measurements over the East Antarctic seasonal ice zone” published as preprint in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

https://acp.copernicus.org/preprints/acp-2020-1213/acp-2020-1213.pdf

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Formula finds use in forest fire prediction

November 2020:
“During feature engineering, our team hypothesized that absolute humidity can provide additional information that would help with forest fire prediction.” [Google translation]
https://manualestutor.com/3-consejos-para-proyectos-de-aprendizaje-automatico-por-primera-vez/

Use browser translation app if needed – original in Spanish. It’s interesting stuff.

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October 2020: Kudos to Kibis for this heads-up on Hardware.fr

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Absolute Humidity a significant factor in coronavirus transmission

September 2020: Using weather datasets from USA, statistical tests on absolute humidity values generated by my formula reveal that this parameter correlates significantly with coronavirus transmission and associated fatalities.

Download pdf from
http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/paperinfo?journalid=275&doi=10.11648/j.bsi.20200503.12

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Calculate Absolute Humidity at altitude from radiosonde data

July 2020: Thank you to former research engineer Richard Seymour for pointing the way to this application of the absolute humidity computation formula. Answering a question on Quora, Richard gave a link to the University of Wyoming’s radiosonde site operated by the Department of Atmospheric Science. Amazing resource of worldwide atmospheric soundings with data going right back to 1973!

I used an Excel spreadsheet to compute AH from the simultaneously measured RH(%) and T(°C) radiosonde data for intervals of approx. 1 km up to 9 km, and used the line chart tool to graph the data shown above. Fascinating to see the altitude distribution of water vapor in the atmosphere above Long Island on a July day.

Link to Quora
https://www.quora.com/Where-can-I-find-data-on-absolute-humidity-at-altitude

Link to University of Wyoming’s Atmospheric Soundings site
http://weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/sounding.html

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Meteorologist app discovers the formula

June 2020: Meteorologist is a free weather program for OS X. Here’s the link to the discussion about adding absolute humidity as a display option:
https://sourceforge.net/p/heat-meteo/discussion/386598/thread/f7fbd3542d/

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Carbon dioxide and radon gas emissions from boreholes and wells

March 2020: Following on from the borehole research presented in September 2019 (see below), the same authors have penned another paper which utilizes the absolute humidity computation formula in studying the effect of atmospheric conditions on carbon dioxide and radon gas emissions from an abandoned water well in northern Israel.

Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896972031370X (pay to view)

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Assessing the feasibility of preserving an historic building in a
sub-tropical climate

March 2020: The Conservation Office in Hong Kong has used the AH computation formula as part of the methodology of a one-year environmental monitoring program to study the feasibility of preserving the fabric and fittings of an historic building without the installation of an air-conditioning system. The climate in Hong Kong is sub-tropical for nearly half the year.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00393630.2018.1486092

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Absolute Humidity a strong factor in the seasonality of influenza-like illness in Australia

January 2020: This is one of the conclusions of a thesis submitted in March 2019 for an MPhil in Applied Mathematics at The University of Adelaide, South Australia. The thesis, which uses my formula to compute AH from RH and T data (measured simultaneously at the same location) is entitled “Using approximate Bayesian computation and machine learning model selection techniques to understand the impact of climate on seasonal influenza-like illness in Australia”

If you’re into applications of stochastic models in climate science, this is well worth a read.

See Jessica Penfold’s thesis online at
https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/121360/1/Penfold2019_MPhil.pdf

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Formula used to study the effect of water vapor on combustion of liquid fuel sprays

October 2019: Researchers from the University of Bremen and the Leibniz Institute for Materials Engineering, Bremen, Germany have published a paper in Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science.

The authors comment in the abstract of the paper:
“During spray combustion, the complex oxidizing atmosphere makes the direct experimental investigation of droplet evaporation and combustion challenging. Within this study, the effects of water vapor as well as the concentrations of oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere on the single isolated droplet combustion were experimentally investigated using a high-speed digital camera.”

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0894177719303693 [Abstract]

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Formula enables water vapor to be used as a tracer gas

September 2019: My absolute humidity computation formula is in effect a transform that re-expresses relative humidity (RH) and temperature (T) inputs as mass per unit volume. Simultaneous monitoring of RH and T thus functions as a gas analyzer quantifying water vapor concentration at the point of measurement.

An array of RH & T sensors operating continuously can be used to track movements of water vapor as a tracer gas in a monitored space such as a borehole, and it is this ability which has been utilized in a study entitled “Mechanisms Controlling Air Stratification Within a Large Diameter Borehole and Atmospheric Exchange” published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

Using water vapor and CO₂ as independent tracer gases enabled identification of two remarkably different air transport mechanisms occurring during winter and summer in a 3.4 m diameter, 59 m deep borehole in an arid climate region. The study’s findings in relation to large diameter boreholes or shafts have a “clear implication for potential emissions of GHGs and toxic vapor from water tables to the atmosphere in contaminated sites”, the authors concluded.

link: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2018JF004729 [Abstract]

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Formula used in study of seasonal dynamics of influenza in Brazil

August 2019: My absolute humidity computation formula has found use in the paper Dinâmica sazonal da influenza no Brasil: a importância da latitude e do clima (Seasonal dynamics of influenza in Brazil: the importance of latitude and climate) by Alexandra Almeida of the National School of Public Health, FIOCRUZ.

This paper features some seriously cool math. Seasonality was tested for using wavelet decomposition (a modern form of Fourier analysis) and once found, circular statistics was used to generate data to describe the detected periodic behavior.

“The climate variables initially considered in the study are: maximum, average and minimum temperature (°C), relative humidity (%), precipitation (mm) and insolation (hours). From the climate variables provided by INMET, we compute two other variables reported as important in the literature: the maximum weekly temperature variation (difference between maximum and minimum daily temperature, in °C) and absolute humidity (grams/m³) (MANDER, 2012). [Google translate]

link: https://www.arca.fiocruz.br/bitstream/icict/34080/2/ve_Alexandra_Ribeiro_ENSP_2018 [Abstract in English plus two pre-prints submitted respectively to Elsevier and BMC Infectious diseases: 1) Seasonal dynamics of influenza in Brazil: the latitude effect. 2) Influenza in the tropics: the facets of humidity]

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Formula recommended on France’s knowledge-sharing forum Futura

“On [blogpost URL] there are links to articles to control fans to dehumidify a cellar. Everything is there. Even a link to the formula to calculate the dew point if you want to check that the walls/floors reach it and you want to put a condition on it.”

June 2019: CarnotCycle thanks feumar for recommending this blogpost and my absolute humidity computation formula on France’s Futura knowledge-sharing forum on a vast array of scientific subjects including technology for the home.

https://forums.futura-sciences.com/habitat-bioclimatique-isolation-chauffage/853733-regulation-ventilation-vmc-hivernage-maison-3.html

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Formula used in Basement/Crawlspace Humidity Control System

May 2019: The absolute humidity conversion formula (Mander 2012) published by CarnotCycle blog has been used in an Arduino project whose aim is to “intelligently reduce the moisture in your basement/crawlspace to help control mildew growth and lower your heating/cooling bill”.

https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/chuygen/basement-crawlspace-ventilation-system-dcf98f

The author writes
“After running the ventilation system in my crawlspace for the last couple of months with zero hangs and with a peak relative humidity of greater than 95% after the leak from my hot water heater it has successfully dropped the relative humidity to less than 50%. The ventilation system is an on-going control system that works!”

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Formula used to demonstrate the effect of absolute humidity on flu virus counts

March 2019:

“Based on the agreement between the results of the linear and nonlinear models, AH had a stronger effect on all influenza virus counts than RH. Unlike RH, which measures the air saturation point of water [vapor] and varies by indoor versus outdoor location during the winter (the season of influenza activity in temperate climates), AH measures the actual amount of water [vapor] in the air, regardless of temperature, and is consistently low indoors and outdoors during the winter (reference 30). That might explain the consistent effect of AH on both influenza virus types and the strength of the association found in this study.”

“AH was defined as the weight of water vapor per unit volume of air and was expressed as the number of grams per cubic meter. Since AH data were not available from Environment Canada, the following formula was used to calculate AH, based on the available temperature (T) and RH (reference 32: CarnotCycle): AH = [6.112 × e^[(17.67 × T)/(T+243.5)] × RH × 2.1674}/(273.15 × T)”

https://aem.asm.org/content/aem/85/6/e02426-18.full.pdf

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Formula used with Bosch BME280 to determine sensor altitude or sea level pressure

The BME280 is a temperature, pressure and relative humidity sensor with communication over I2C

January 2019: My absolute humidity computation formula has found use in an application on esphomelib, a coding library for WiFi-enabled ESP microprocessors.

https://esphomelib.com/esphomeyaml/cookbook/bme280_environment.html

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Dehumidifier supplier uses formula to power online capacity calculator

November 2018: Dehumidifier supplier Airépolis is using my absolute humidity computation formula in an online calculator designed to help customers choose the appropriate machine capacity based on the volume, temperature and relative humidity of the space to be dehumidified. Airépolis graciously acknowledges me and provides a link to this blogpost.

https://www.airepolis.com/calculadora-capacidad-deshumidificador/

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Formula used in prediction of influenza cases

November 2018:
Link: https://healthfully.home.blog/2018/11/05/summary/

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Formula applied in dehumidification technology research

June 2018 : My absolute humidity (AH) computation formula has been used to calculate specific humidity W_air = AH/ρ_air for a given temperature, where ρ_air is air density. In this research paper, a psychrometric chart for a range of calcium chloride liquid dessicant solutions across a range of temperatures was compiled from measured relative humidity and temperature data

Link: http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41291/1/clear%20version%20for%20deposit.pdf

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Formula used in study of environmental factors affecting sleep

April 2018: Researchers in Thailand have made use of my absolute humidity (AH) computation formula in a paper published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, April 2018.

Link: http://jcsm.aasm.org/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=31237

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Formula gets praise on GitHub

April 2018: My formula has found a new application in HappyBee, a companion set of features to complement ecobee WiFi thermostats. The HappyBee suite includes humidity normalization using a heat recovery ventilator.

Link: https://github.com/ilyabelkin/HappyBee#happybee

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Formula cited in doctoral dissertation concerning GNSS positioning accuracy

October 2017: A doctoral dissertation from the University of Connecticut has used my absolute humidity (AH) computation formula to quantify real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning with the effect of ground-level AH, which theory and previous research suggests can degrade global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positioning accuracy.

Link: http://opencommons.uconn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7849&context=dissertations

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A neat display of RH, T and AH data

September 2017: This automated data display from a website in Austria is among the best I have seen. Outdoor measurements of RH (%) and T (Celsius) are taken every 10 minutes and fitted to a common 0 -100 scale, which also serves to plot computed AH (g/m^3).

The displayed segment captures the mirror-image movements of RH (blue line) as T (yellow line) rises and falls while AH (red line) remains relatively constant. This neatly visualizes how water vapor density and temperature together determine relative humidity.

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Formula cited in two recent academic research papers

July 2017

Czech Republic: Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Thesis: The effect of climate conditions on wheel-rail contact adhesion
http://dl.uk.fme.vutbr.cz/zobraz_soubor.php?id=3392

Sweden: Linköping University, Institute for Economic and Industrial Development
Case study: Effect of seasonal ventilation on energy efficiency and indoor air quality
Authors: Frida Anderling and Oscar Svahn

“To ensure that the formula actually gives a correct value, some of the calculated values from the formula were compared with those from a Mollier diagram and in all the cases tested the results matched”

http://www.navic.se/images/Exjobb/rstidsanpassad_ventilation.pdf

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Formula computes real time AH with DHT22 sensor on single board computer

June 2017: Single board computers provide low-cost solutions to automation and testing. On element14.com a BeagleBone Black Wireless equipped with a DHT22 RH&T sensor has been used to monitor outdoor and indoor temperature and humidity using my formula to enable AH computations to be processed in real time.

https://www.element14.com/community/roadTestReviews/2398/l/BeagleBoard.org-BBB-Wireless-BBBWL-SC-562

http://element381.rssing.com/chan-13345555/all_p589.html

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Formula features in Russian Arduino project on YouTube

April 2017: My formula makes its first live appearance on YouTube. The presentation concerns a humidity/temperature monitoring and management system installed in a cellar affected by mould problems. If you don’t speak Russian don’t worry, the images of the installation give you the gist of what this project is about.

See the YouTube video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO1yugxahpk

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Formula recommended for use in monitoring comfort levels for exotic pets

March 2017: A post has appeared on Reddit concerning an Arduino Uno with T&RH sensor and LCD screen, which the poster is using to improve temperature and humidity monitoring of a pet’s habitat – in this particular case a Bearded Dragon (not the one illustrated).

The post has attracted much interested discussion and comment, including a recommendation from one participant to use AH rather than RH, citing my conversion formula. The rationale for the change is so neatly expressed that I would like to quote it:

“May I recommend absolute humidity instead of relative? Relative humidity only tells you how “full” the air is of moisture, and it’s entirely dependent on temperature; the same amount of moisture will read lower relative humidity at higher temperatures, and vice versa. Whereas absolute humidity is measured in grams of water per cubic meter of air. You can implement this simple conversion formula in your code: (URL for this blogpost)
0-2 is extremely dry, 6-12 is your average indoors, and 30 is like an Amazon rainforest.”

See the Reddit post here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/5ysmo5/i_noticed_my_bearded_dragons_habitat_could_use_a/

See the Arduino project here:
https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/ThothLoki/portable-arduino-temp-humidity-sensor-with-lcd-a750f4

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Interesting discussion of value of AH vs RH on Reddit

February 2017:
Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/5u50z4/comparison_between_relative_humidity_which_is/

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Igor uses my formula to keep his cellar dry

October 2016: I am impressed by this basement humidity control system developed by Igor and reported on Amperka.ru forum.

Inside the short pipe is a fan equipped with a 3D-printed circumferential seal. The fan replaces basement air with outdoor air, and is activated when absolute humidity in the cellar is 0.5 g/m^3 higher than in the street, subject to the condition that the temperature of the outdoor air is lower. This ensures that water in the cellar walls is drawn into the vapor phase and pumped out; the reverse process cannot occur. на русском здесь.

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Formula cited in doctoral dissertation concerning local weather and infectious disease

Summer 2016: My AH formula has been cited in a doctoral dissertation entitled “Seasonality, local weather and infectious disease: effects of heat and humidity on local risk for urinary tract infections and Legionella pneumonia”

This can be downloaded from http://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/5852

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Formula powers online RH←→AH calculator

March 2016: German website rechneronline.de is using my formula to power an online RH/AH conversion calculator.

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Formula cited in academic research paper

January 2016: A research article in Landscape Ecology (October 2015) exploring microclimatic patterns in urban environments across the United States has used my formula to compute absolute humidity from temperature and relative humidity data.

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Formula finds use in humidity control unit

August 2015: Open source software/hardware project Arduino is using my absolute humidity formula in a microcontroller designed to control humidity in basements:

“The whole idea is to measure the temperature and relative humidity in the basement and on the street, on the basis of temperature and relative humidity to calculate the absolute humidity and make a decision on the inclusion of the exhaust fan in the basement. The theory for the calculation is set forth here – carnotcycle.wordpress.com/2012/08/04/how-to-convert-relative-humidity-to-absolute-humidity.” на русском здесь.

More photos on this link (text in Russian):http://arduino.ru/forum/proekty/kontrol-vlazhnosti-podvala-arduino-pro-mini

UPDATE 2020: pav2000 has developed an impressive 2.0 version of this dehumidifier which can be seen on this link:
https://githubmate.com/repo/pav2000/Dehumidifier-2.0

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AH computation procedure applied in calibration of NASA weather satellite

June 2015: My general procedure for computing AH from RH and T has been applied in the absolute calibration of NASA’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS), specifically in relation to the RH data provided by Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR). The only change to my formula is that P_sat is calculated using the August-Roche-Magnus expression rather than the Bolton expression.

The CYGNSS system, comprising a network of eight satellites, is designed to improve hurricane intensity forecasts and was launched on 15 December 2016.

Reference: ddchen.net/publications (Technical report “An Antenna Temperature Model for CYGNSS” June 2015)

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Formula cited in draft paper on air quality monitoring

May 2015: Metal oxide (MO) sensors are used for the measurement of air pollutants including nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and ozone. A draft paper concerning the Air Quality Egg (AQE) which cites my formula in relation to MO sensors can be seen on this link:

MONITORING AIR QUALITY IN THE GRAND VALLEY: ASSESSING THE USEFULNESS OF THE AIR QUALITY EGG

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Formula used by US Department of Energy in Radiological Risk Assessment

June 2014: In its report on disused uranium mines, Legacy Management at DoE used my formula for computing absolute humidity as one of the meteorological parameters involved in modeling radiological risk assessment.

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