Evaluating the watercollecting properties of various substrates in a low cost dew condenser for plan

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

• Aurel Lazar
• Spring Valley High School

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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

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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

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Image taken by Serge Duchemin
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Image from Public Domain, taken by Mike Chapman
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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

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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

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Image
Image produced by UNESCO
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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

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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)

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Wire Condensate

• Arid deserts have extremely high temperature
  ranges
• 50c in day
• 0c at night
• Radiative Cooling of objects at night
• Formation of dew (temperature difference must be
  extreme)
• Creation of Wire Farms

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Conceptual Wire Farm
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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

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Methodology

• Obtainment 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

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Experimental Design Diagrams
Experiment A
Experiment B
DV Water yield (µm) C Humidity
Regulated Temperature Testing area Wire Volume
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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.

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Current Progress

• Research is currently being conducted at the USC
  Earth and Water Science building
• Construction of electric pulse system complete

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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

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Literature Cited

• Alekseev, V.V. and Berezkin, M.J. (1998). Fresh
  water from atmospheric vapour for arid regions.
  Renewable Energy Bulletin, 3, pp. 3638
• Collins, J (2001, February 12). Desertification.
  Retrieved from VWC Enviro Facts Web site
  http//www.botany.uwc.ac.za/Envfacts/facts/deserti
  fication.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. 231240.
• Muselli et al. (2002). Dew water collector for
  potable water in Ajaccio (Corsica Island,
  France). Atmospheric Research, 64, pp. 297312
• 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/

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

• Aurel Lazar
• Spring Valley High School