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Old 10th February 2017 | 09:31
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Whimlew
 
Joined: Feb 2017
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From: Ocean City, NJ
Air Density (rho) derived from temp, dew point, air pressure and elevation

I've just dug into learning about air density. I needed this knowledge in regards to doing some work with using the value of air density.

Apparently one can determine air density using a variety of parameters, but the most accurate may come from using atmospheric pressure, temperature, dewpoint and elevation.

I have create two calculators, a humid air density calculator and a dry air density calculator. I did this using a Java-based utility class for air density that a wrote a couple of weeks ago; JAirDensity.

My question is for humid air density... I could only figure out determining the humid air density with three of the four parameters using Herman Wobus's algorithm (air pressure, temperature and dewpoint)...

However, I was not able to implement an equation that incorporates elevation... How significant is factoring in elevation for a more accurate representation of air density, and how closely do rotorcraft pilots pay attention to the value of air density, if you guys do at all?

Last edited by Whimlew; 22nd March 2017 at 16:10.
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