Improved Magnus` form approximation of saturation vapor pressure

Relative humidity is usually measured in aerological observations and dew point depression is usually reported in upper-air reports. These variables must frequently be converted to other moisture variables in meteorological analysis. If relative humidity is converted to vapor pressure, most humidity variables can then be determined. Elliott and Gaffen reviewed the practices and procedures of the US radiosonde system. In their paper, a comparison of the relative errors was made between the saturation vapor pressure formulations of Tetens (1930), Goff-Gratch (1946), Wexler (1976), and Buck (1981). In this paper, the authors will expand the analysis of Elliott and Gaffen by deriving several new saturation vapor pressure formulas, and reviewing the various errors in these formulations. They will show that two of the new formulations of vapor pressure over water and ice are superior to existing formulas. Upper air temperature data are found to vary from about +50 C to {minus}80 C. This large variation requires a saturation vapor pressure equation to be accurate over a large temperature range. While the errors introduced by the use of relatively inaccurate conversion equations are smaller than the errors due to the instruments, dewpoint coding errors, and dewpoint conversion algorithms (Elliott and Gaffen, 1993); they introduce additional systematic errors in humidity data. The most precise formulation of vapor pressure over a plane surface of water was given by Wexler (1976). The relative errors of Tetens` (1930) formula and one due to Buck (1981) (Buck`s equation is recommended in the Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 3, 1991) are shown. The relative errors in this table are the predicted value minus the Wexler value divided by the Wexler value