The rapidity anomalous dimension (RAD), or Collins-Soper kernel, defines the scaling properties of transverse momentum dependent distributions and can be extracted from the experimental data. I derive a self-contained nonperturbative definition that represents RAD without reference to a particular process. This definition makes possible exploration of the properties of RAD by theoretical methods on one side, and the properties of QCD vacuum with collider measurements on another side. To demonstrate these possibilities, I compute the power correction to RAD, its large-b asymptotic, and compare these estimations with recent phenomenological extractions.