What does dew point temperature depend on?

Dew point temperature indicates how much a surface in a specific habitat with air must be chilled in order for water condensation process to start.

Dew point temperature depends mainly on:

• ambient relative humidity (RH)
• and ambient temperature (T).

The higher the level of relative humidity, the more easily the process of water condensation occurs.

It means that when the level of relative humidity is high, dew point temperature is also high (it is not very different from the current temperature in a given habitat).

Dew point is also directly proportional to ambient temperature. It results from the influence of humidity on the difference between ambient temperature and dew point temperature.

Example dew point values (DP)

It is worth noting that dew point temperature depends on the pressure in a given habitat (the higher the pressure, the lower the dew point) but in most cases it is enough to take air temperature and relative humidity into account, which take dependence on pressure into account themselves.

See also:

• AX-7600 infrared thermometer – non-contact measurement of temperature and dew point
• How to avoid mold growth – determining the dew point