Humidity/Air Quality and distance.

I lived in Hawaii my whole life until 3 years ago when I started college in Saint Louis, Missouri. I'll be flying back to MO in a week and this is the first time I will be bringing my clubs along and will be their first experience on a golf course outside of Hawaii. I've played at some courses in St. Louis but have always borrowed my friend's clubs.

So the point of this thread: Does humidity or other factors in air quality affect ball flight/distance by a noticeable amount? It makes sense to me that a more humid environment would reduce distance because the air is more moist and "heavier" but I don't know that a golf ball would really be affected that much. I'm just wondering what to expect when I start using my clubs in missouri in a week or two.

I'm sure a lot of you have traveled around the world and played golf in many different states (probably even different countries) so I'm hoping you've got some incite for me :)

In a couple of words -- not really. There might be a real technical answer, but I don't know what it would be. I have found that I hit the ball a little further in the middle of summer when it is hot, then in the spring when it is still cool out. I have always attributed it to the warm air, mid-season form, loose muscles, etc. and the humidity doesn't have much to do with it. Although, I have not played in warm and dry conditions either, so I don't have much to compare it to.

I don't know what the conditions are like in Hawaii, but I would think that the humidity would be about the same or even a little less here. I don't think you will have a problem. I would think the main issue for you would be the lack of wind, which would be a good thing.

They say a baseball carries better in warm, humid conditions so if anything, I would say a golf ball would also. I don't notice a difference in distance between seasons. Now if it was a 10 to 15 yard difference I migh notice, a 2 or 3 yard difference no way I would notice.

Additionally, as air temperature increases, air density decreases. Pilots recognize that and must make allowances for the "density altitude" at which they're operating in order to understand how their aircraft will perform at a given altitude and temperature. Your golf ball will fly further at higher altitudes and at higher temperatures. It will fly less far at sea level and in cooler temperatures. A cold day at sea level, into a stiff breeze is gonna make for a long day!

The only difference ive noticed in my ball flight at all is when the tempeture is below 65 degrees. Ill get weaker ball flight and wind becomes more of a factor.

It makes a huge diffrence. Here in the panhandle with no humidity, I average 280 on the drive. In east Texas where there is 80 percent humidity I am lucky to average 230.

You might wanna go play in the conditions yourself more humidity means a lot shorter ball. More humidity means more water in the air, this having heavier air and shorter hits and yes with my driver, it was a 50 yard difference. And 10 yards with my irons.

It's a physical fact that the more moisture there is in the air, the less dense it is. I know that it seems counter intuitive, but it's true.

Erik and others are exactly right about the relationship between humidity (i.e. the moisture content of the air, expressed as percent saturation) and air density. The physics is well understood and is familiar to both fixed wing and helo (rotor wing) pilots who get tested on the subject by FAA, because you really need to know the precise "density altitude" that pertains on a given runway, especially if it's a shortish one, if you're gonna take off safely and humidity is one of the contributors to "density altitude". But humidity is a minor one compared to temperature and altitude above sea level, it is true.

So: the higher the relative humidity the greater the "density altitude", the less dense the air, the farther a golf ball will fly (other things being equal), and the worse the performance of an aircraft attempting to take off (both thrust and lift are adversely affected at higher density altitudes). Erik stated it very well in his earlier post giving molecular weights of components of air. I admit that I found this idea counter-intuitive at first (as a student pilot) but it is simply the way it is. Water vapor is less dense than other gaseous components of air, ergo the greater the proportion of water molecules, the less dense the air. Voila ..

The most dangerous situation you can have as a pilot is to attempt to take off on a really hot, humid day at a high altitude airport from a shortish runway in a plane that is close to its maximum allowable weight. It kills many people very year sadly. You need to run the numbers before hitting full throttle on the end of the runway to make sure you'll clear the field safely. Me, I've taken off on very hot days (Cessnas), I've taken off at fairly high altitudes, and I've taken off on fairly humid days (but not that humid really). You really notice the effect of altitude and temp on take-off roll, humidity not so much. But I have never tried to take off of a shortish runway (2400ft, say) on a hot, humid day at a high elevation airport. Nohownoway.

Here's a link to a page of a rotorwing book that goes into it a bit. There are many other sources of info on the internet if you care to look.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Bk9...esult&resnum;=8

Most Density Altitude calculators don't actually ask you for the relative humidity because it's a relatively small component of the equation; they just ask for temperature, current pressure at sea level and altitude.

The effect of humidity on air density is greater at higher temperatures, because the higher the temp. the more water a given volume of air can hold. So it doesn't matter so much how humid it is in the winter in most places, but in the summer in the south east for example it will make a significant difference I would think. Not that I've played golf in Central Florida in August. Probably not gonna happen, even if the ball does fly further .......

I play in Vancouver BC and people have told me the ball travels 10-20% less compared to florida or california. Anyone know if this is true?

Then why can you hit a ball so far in Colorado. There is no humidity there. Also, my pickup runs terrible in the mountains because of the air, and its a gasoline. But a diesel in the mountains runs so much better. I play in both conditions a lot, and I know for a fact that with a day that is 100 degrees and 80 percent humidity, I hit my drive 230 yards. And I know that if I'm in an area that is 100 degrees and no humidity at all, I hit it 280. Go ahead and use science, but I know those yardages for a fact are right.

He is correct. From my experience flying and drag racing, humidity increases the "density altitude" which is a measure of the effective altitude.

For example, I live at sea level in a very hot, humid climate (Houston, TX). Typically in the summer here in the afternoon our density altitude is over 2000ft, a few times this year it has been over 3000ft (103 deg / 112 or so heat index). That means that the ball (or plane or car) will behave like you are playing in "standard conditions" at 3000ft elevation. For racing and flying this is a bad thing because there is less air for the engine to breathe (your engine performance suffers quite a bit unless you have forced induction), but for golf, since all the energy comes from your muscles which presumably can still get enough oxygen, you get more distance (less drag on the ball). If you were doing some kind of aerobic exercise (like running or cycling) your performance would suffer, but in something like golf where you only exert for a few seconds every few minutes, your body can catch up despite the lower partial pressure of oxygen, and your performance does not suffer. Short story.... on a hot humid day your ball will go farther. Just remember to stay hydrated!

Ok, try to focus here....... High humidity is only one factor that reduces air density. Other factors are temperature (higher temp = less density) and altitude (higher altitude = less density). When the air is less dense, the ball goes further. In Colorado, even though the relative humidity tends to be low, the air is much less dense due to the altitude so the ball flies further. FWIW, most people experience about a 10% differential at altitude. Does that make sense now? The science is pretty straight forward. Why you have trouble hitting the ball in high humidity I can't answer, but it isn't because the humidity is affecting the ball in flight.

Ok, I gotcha now. I guess altitude has more of an effect than anything.

I admit that I'm wrong, but that was a good debate. Thanks guys. No hard feelings I hope.

And your yardage facts are basically correct. You need to remember that there are three factors that determine the density of air (weight for a given volume), vis:

1) Altitude. The higher you are (above sea level, or MSL in aviation parlance), the less dense the air and thus the farther the ball will fly. This is a dominant factor (run some density altitude calculations on the internet with different values and you'll see). So, you guys in CO are getting more bang for your buck, which just aint fair to us Lowlanders .... [hmmm, maybe this is why there have been so few top flight Dutch golfers ....] 2) Temperature. Hotter is better - for ball flight. That's why most Brits are delighted when they come from SE England to (say) Arizona, to discover how far they can really hit the ball. Have you ever played golf on a typically chilly day in Surrey? 3) Humidity. As stated, wetter is better (as it were). But I wouldn't really worry about the humidity factor, because playing way up there in CO you will find that the effect of playing 1+ mile high is much, much greater than any difference in humidity will make. But still, on a hot humid day in Denver you'll threaten to achieve escape velocity ..... (take 3 penalty points) 4) Gravitational force. This is not a density factor of course but what the hey, it's a free bonus for you. We'll hold it constant for now at 1.00G. Too much physics can give anyone heartburn ... But play golf on the moon like those astronauts and you'll sure notice a difference. Yours, a would-be CFI*/physics teacher *Certified Flight Instructor .....not. p.s. I just saw David in FL's post, which covered it more succinctly. 10% for every 5000ft would be about right I think - that is the amount that an airspeed indicator in an aircraft will under-indicate airspeed with inc altitude. Thus, if indicated airspeed at 10,000 ft = 100 knots, true airspeed will be about 120 knots. I admit that this is going off track a wee bit too far ....