Evaluating the water-collecting properties of various substrates in a low cost dew condenser for plant growth in simulated arid

climate conditionsAurel Lazar

Spring Valley High School

Deserts and Desertification• Natural process that creates deserts

• Expansion of desert biomes

• Deserts: • Receive small amounts of precipitation• Typically dry• Extreme diurnal temperature variation

• Desertification only recently identified as worldwide phenomenon caused by the exponential increase in population

What is desertification?• The sporadic and completely random

spread of a desert

• A land degradation process that involves a continuum of change, from slight to very severe degradation of the plant and soil resource, and is due to man's activities (Dregne, 1986)

• Mistakenly assumed to be an instant change to a sandy wasteland

Image taken by Serge Duchemin

Image from Public Domain, taken by Mike Chapman

Causes of Desertification• Usually natural, but recently, all

major desertification is caused by humans (Dregne, 1986)

• Global Warming

• Land abuse after droughts (Watson)

• Overgrazing

• Salinization of land after irrigation

• Cultivation of Marginal Land (Collins)

• Removal of Vegetative Cover

• Burning of Rainforests

Effects• 12 Million Hectares of land rendered

deserts each year (Collins)

• Degradation of Topsoils

• Water run-off

• Severe Floods in starting regions

• Livestock death

• Encroaching Sand Dunes

• Dust Storms

Image

Image produced by UNESCO

Vegetable Cover• Roots strengthen soil

• Leaves soften fall of rain, reducing splash erosion

• Less water run-off

• Inhibits Salinization

• Sustains water moisture

• Necessary tool in countering desertification

Obtaining Water• Most people are unaware of the vast

quantity of water available in airborne atmospheric rivers (Nelson, 2003)

• Fog Fences – Must be on mountains

• Desalinization Plants – Produce pollution (Alekseev et al., 1998)

• Zibold Airwell – Large and bulky pile of rocks (Kogan et al., 2003)

• Dew Collectors (Musseli et al., 2002)

Wire Condensate• Arid deserts have extremely high

temperature ranges• 50°c in day• 0°c at night

• Radiative Cooling of objects at night

• Formation of dew (temperature difference must be extreme)

• Creation of Wire Farms

Conceptual Wire Farm

Materials• Copper Wires• Aluminum Wires• Steel Wires• Fiberglass Rods• Plastic Wires• Glass tubing• Environmental Chamber• Test Tubes• Pliers

• Pipettes• Hooks• Electric Wire• Batteries• Plastic Tubing• Resistor

MethodologyObtainment of supplies

Set-up of Experiment A & B

Chamber set to run for 48 hours

Water quantified

Set-up of Experiment C

4 Electric Pulses sent through,water then quantified

Experimental Design Diagrams

IV: Wire Material

Copper Fiberglass

Aluminum

Plastic Steel Glass

6 Trials 6 Trials 6 Trials 6 Trials 6 Trials 6 Trials

DV: Water yield (μm) C: Humidity Regulated Temperature

Testing areaWire Volume

IV: Wire Thickness (Diameter)

3 mm 6mm 10mm

6 Trials 6 Trials 6 Trials

Experiment A

Experiment B

Hypotheses• Experiment A:

• As specific heat of the objects and density increases, so will water yield.

• Experiment B• As diameter increases, so will water

yield.

Current Progress• Research is currently being

conducted at the USC Earth and Water Science building

• Construction of electric pulse system complete

Acknowledgements

• Dr. Tammi Richardson at USC for aiding in the obtainment of an environmental chamber

• My parents and teachers for their continuous support and encouragement

Literature Cited• Alekseev, V.V. and Berezkin, M.J. (1998). Fresh water from

atmospheric vapour for arid regions. Renewable Energy Bulletin, 3, pp. 36–38

• Collins, J (2001, February 12). Desertification. Retrieved from VWC Enviro Facts Web site: http://www.botany.uwc.ac.za/Envfacts/facts/desertification.htm

• Dregne, H. E. (1986). Desertification of arid lands. In Physics of desertification, ed. F. El-Baz and M. H. A. Hassan. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Martinus, Nijhoff.

• Kogan, B. et al. (2003). The moisture from the air as water resource in arid region: hopes, doubts and facts. Journal of Arid Environments, 53, pp. 231–240.

• Muselli et al. (2002). Dew water collector for potable water in Ajaccio (Corsica Island, France). Atmospheric Research, 64, pp. 297–312

• Nelson, Robert A. (2003). Air wells: Methods for recovery of atmospheric humidity. Retrieved from Rex Research Web site: http://www.rexresearch.com/airwells/airwells.htm

• Watson, K (1997). Desertification. Retrieved from Deserts: Geology and Resources Web site: http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/deserts/

Evaluating the water-collecting properties of various substrates in a low cost dew condenser for plant growth in simulated arid

climate conditionsAurel Lazar

Spring Valley High School