Quantitative Evaluation of Water Deposited By Dew on Monuments

Samples of White and Green Carrara marble, and three types oflimestone and brick exposed in the field vertically and horizontally were used to evaluate condensationon monuments during clear sky nights. Experiments in a simulation chamber under controlledconditions led to a general equation for the actual amount of water deposited on a surface by dew.This is determined by: How much and for how long the surface temperature falls below the dew point,the moisture content in the air and the ventilation. On clear nights, the condensation on buildingstructures facing the sky may reach some 0.2 kg m^-2 (or 0.2 mm), whereas condensation on verticalsurfaces is very small. Computation of the seasonal trend of night-time condensationshowed that the maximum amount of water condensed per night occurs in the autumn, with the moreabundant concentration of moisture in the air. The total amount of water condensed per month isfound to be a maximum in the summer-autumn period. Morning condensationfor the thermal inertia of monuments is also relevant, and has been calculated to reach the same order of magnitude as thenocturnal dew. A detailed analysis of the temperature and mixing ratio profiles near a condensingsurface has shown two different situations. In still air, the two profiles follow an exponentiallaw and the thermal and the concentration layers lie within a few tens of millimetres. Inthe presence of turbulence, the thickness of these two layers is dramatically reduced. In still air, infront of a vertical, chilly surface, the deposition rate of air pollutants by thermophoresis and/orStefan flow is increased by 3 or 4 times in comparison with a horizontal surface. In the presence ofturbulence, the thickness of the thermal and concentration layers was dramatically reduced, makingthese two kinds of deposition much faster.     

Passive dew collection in a grassland area, The Netherlands

Passive dew collection experiments were initiated in late 2003 in the centre of The Netherlands within a grassland area. A specially designed 1 m² insulated planar dew collector, set at a 30° angle from horizontal, was covered with a thin (0.39 mm) polyethylene foil and subsequently replaced with 4 mm polyvinyl chloride. A second dew collector, in the shape of an inverted pyramid, was constructed to reduce the view angle to only the nighttime sky. A simple surface energy-budget model and an aerodynamic model were used to simulate the dew collected by both collectors. The planar collector collected about 90% of the dew at the grass cover while the pyramid collector collected about 1.20% of the grass cover. The aerodynamic model was able to predict the amount of collector data to within 50% for the planar collector and 60% for the inverted pyramid collector. The pyramid collector design was able to collect about 20% more dew than the inclined planar collector.     

Ecophysiology of atmospheric moisture in the Namib Desert

Although the Namib Desert is classified as hyperarid, with rainfall extremely rare, there are several other sources of atmospheric moisture, namely, humidity, dew and fog, which make it possible for organisms to live there. Methods to use these sources include locating moist micro-climates, drinking from wet surfaces, consuming moist food, collecting water on the body, and absorbing water vapour. In describing these mechanisms from published sources, we highlight the work of Professor Gideon Louw, to whom we dedicate this paper. Louw's pioneering work on water relations and economy, which includes osmoregulation in desert plants and animals such as grass, beetles, and springbok, established a foundation that inspired numerous studies by colleagues and students. Ecophysiology provides many more lessons that have potential to be mimicked and applied in the occult collection of water in arid regions.     

Dew and rain water collection in the Dalmatian Coast, Croatia

Passive dew harvesting and rainwater collection requires a very small financial investment but can exploit a free, clean (outside urban/industrial zones) and inexhaustible source of water. This study investigates the relative contributions of dew and rain water in the Mediterranean Dalmatian coast and islands of Croatia, with emphasis on the dry summer season. In addition, we evaluate the utility of transforming abandoned roof rain collectors (“impluviums”) to collect dew water too. Two sites were chosen, an exposed open site on the coast favourable to dew formation (Zadar) and a less favourable site in a cirque of mountains in Komiža (Vis Island). Between July 1, 2003 and October 31, 2006, dew was collected two or three times per day on a 1 m² inclined (30°) test dew condenser, together with standard meteorological data (air temperature and relative humidity, cloud cover, windspeed and direction). Maximum yields were 0.41 mm in Zadar and 0.6 mm in Komiža. The mean yearly cumulative dew yields were found to be 20 mm (Zadar) and 9.3 mm (Komiža). Because of its physical setting, Komiža represents a poor location for dew collection. However, during the dry season (May to October), monthly cumulative dew water yield can represent up to 38% of water collected by rainfall. In both July 2003 and 2006, dew water represented about 120% of the monthly cumulative rain water. Refurbishing the abandoned impluviums to permit dew collection could then provide useful supplementary water, especially during the dry season. As an example, the 1300 m² impluvium at Podšpilje near Komiža could provide, in addition to rain water, 14,000 L dew water per year.     

Effects of gravel and sand mulches on dew deposition in the semiarid region of China

Information regarding dew deposition on the stone-covered surface is scarce. The effects of gravel and sand mulches on dew condensation were studied during the late summer and fall of 1999 in the semiarid loess region of China. The results indicated that there were significant difference in daily dew amount between gravel mulch, sand mulch and dry loess soil (control). The average dew amount for gravel mulch was 0.071 mm d⁻¹ with extreme 0.022 and 0.20 mm d⁻¹. The average values for sand mulch and dry loess soil was 0.12 and 0.15 mm d⁻¹, respectively. The minimum dew amount was 0.048 mm d⁻¹ for sand mulch and 0.071 mm d⁻¹ for dry loess soil, and the maximum dew amount was approximate 0.25 mm d⁻¹ for both treatments. The results suggest that surface stone mulch can reduce dew deposition as compared to sand and dry loess soil.     

GE露点仪性能分析

对美国GE露点仪测量性能进行了分析。结合GE露点仪使用过程中遇到的问题,总结了GE露点仪的探头选择、探头安装位置、气密性及流量控制等使用要求。以双压法湿度发生器作为标准装置,对GE露点仪进行了大量静态测试,结果表明:GE露点仪相对湿度测量值偏低;在低温条件下,测量误差较大且分散性较大;随着温度的降低,灵敏度明显降低,测量重复性变差,至-10℃时性能下降明显。该文研究内容,对于认识GE露点仪测量性能,保证其测试准确度和可靠性具有重要意义。     

二维傅里叶变换在露点仪镜面图像偏移修正中的应用

图像式露点仪在采集镜面图像时由于温度波动和振动冲击会使采集图像发生偏移,本文针对偏移造成露点图像识别率低的问题,基于二维傅里叶变换的空间位移性,建立相对关联函数(RCF)对偏移量进行计算和修正,通过寻找其能量分布在低维空间的峰值响应,从理论上推导了偏移量的计算方法,并结合实际设计了算法。将算法应用到露点图像识别中,通过实验测试和对比分析表明该图像偏移检测方法精度较高,可行性好,对熵值法的识别准确率提高有明显的作用。     

A simple model for potential dewfall in an arid region

It is not always easy to know, post-facto, whether both dewfall and fog may have occurred over a given evening period. Instrumentation limitations make it difficult to quantify dew deposition since they rely on artificial sensing surfaces that are either visually examined on a daily basis or recorded. In arid to Mediterranean regions, both dew and fog can play significant ecological roles as suppliers of moisture. Long-term observation records of dew and fog in such regions tend to be limited, however, due partly to a lack of interest and limited distribution of well-instrumented meteorological stations. Simple meteorological criteria are suggested here to calculate potential dewfall and to indicate whether fog was likely to have occurred over a given evening. A field campaign was carried out in the NW Negev desert, Israel, in September and October 1997, to collect meteorological data and carry out dewfall measurements.     

湖北十堰“05．8台风倒槽特大暴雨的多尺度分析

受“珊瑚”台风倒槽的影响,2005年8月14日晚至15日凌晨在十堰市的房县、竹山和丹江口部分地区出现了一次特大暴雨天气过程。利用常规气象资料、卫星云图资料、地面加密气象资料,对此次强降水过程进行了多尺度分析。结果表明：（1）副热带高压的阻挡、地面弱冷空气的扩散、中低纬度环流系统的相互作用及低空急流对水汽的输送,是影响此次强降水过程的主要大尺度环流背景;（2）暴雨发生前存在较为明显的中尺度露点锋和地面中尺度辐合线;（3）卫星云图上有组织的中尺度对流系统（MCS）的发生、发展、成熟与消散对强降水临近预报预警有着重要的指示作用。     

Precipitable water and dew point temperature relationship during the Indian summer monsoon

Two years of contrasting monsoon rainfall over the Indian subcontinent are studied with reference to (a) total precipitable water and precipitation efficiencies during the respective years and (b) the correlation between the dew point temperature at a particular level and the total precipitable water. It is found that the maximum correlation occurs between the dew point temperature at the 850 mb level and the total precipitable water at an individual station. The precipitation efficiencies are less during the year of bad monsoon. A linear regression equation is attempted between the total precipitable water and dew point temperature.