how does increased altitude affect dew point?

Answer 1

The dew point is the temperature to which air must be cooled to become saturated. As elevation increases, temperature decreases until it reaches the dew point. The air becomes saturated and is usually indicated by the formation of clouds.

Answer 2

What the meteorologist said is correct but it does not answer the question. If the temperature and amount of water vapor does not change (that is called absolute humidity) when the altitude is increased the atmospheric pressure decreases and the dew point will increase.

Answer 3

Generally dew point decreases with height.It may increase only if two conditions are met.First there should be an isothermal layer or temperature inversion.Secondly the absolute humidity should remain constant.From the radiosonde soundings data ,you can sometimes (particularly in winter) notice that sudden fall of humidity with height ,will produce a temperature inversion or an isothemal layer.Moreover water vapour is confined to troposphere only.Above that the relative humidity becomes almost zero.

Answer 4

Good question. Both temperature and dew point temperature decrease with altitude under normal circumstances. The air can hold less moisture due to the drop in temperature and there is less moisture in the air (lower dewpoint).