Abstract
Summary This paper presents an energy balance modelling approach to predict the nightly water yield and the surface temperature ( T f ) of two passive radiative dew condensers (RDCs) tilted 30° from horizontal. One was fitted with a white hydrophilic polyethylene foil recommended for dew harvest and the other with a black polyethylene foil widely used in horticulture. The model was validated in south-eastern Spain by comparing the simulation outputs with field measurements of T f and dew yield. The results indicate that the model is robust and accurate in reproducing the behaviour of the two RDCs, especially in what refers to T f , whose estimates were very close to the observations. The results were somewhat less precise for dew yield, with a larger scatter around the 1:1 relationship. A sensitivity analysis showed that the simulated dew yield was highly sensitive to changes in relative humidity and downward longwave radiation. The proposed approach provides a useful tool to water managers for quantifying the amount of dew that could be harvested as a valuable water resource in arid, semiarid and water stressed regions.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
