Estimate Wet Bulb Temperature

Estimate the wet bulb temperature based on dry bulb temperature and relative humidity.

Definitions

• Dry bulb temperature is what most people mean when they talk about temperature.
• Relative humidity is the percentage of water in the air.
• Wet bulb temperature combines dry bulb temperature and relative humidity to estimate the lowest temperature that can be reached by the evaporation of water on the surface of the thermometer. For wildlife, a high wet bulb temperature indicates that sweating won't help the animal stay cool.

Acknowledgments

The wet bulb algorithm is specified in the following document:

U.S. Department of Energy
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Building Technology Office
Building American Best Practices Series
Volume 7.3
Guide to Determining Climate Regions by County
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
August 2015