Objective
The goal of this project is the achievement of the sustainable use of the natural resources of the coastal hills of the Peruvian and Chilean coastal desert by exploiting the only water resource available: fog water The first step towards this goal will be a field demonstration of the role fog water can play in producing large quantities of water for retention and reintroduction of vegetation on the hills of the coastal desert.
The objectives of the demonstration will be to prove: (a) the effectiveness of artificially collected fog water in the restoration of the vegetation; (b) the ability of the plants to sustain themselves by means of the water supply derived from the fog they collect, with no more need for man made collectors; (c) the possibility that the surplus of water obtained by means of artificial collectors can be used for subsistence agriculture and for pasture growth.
The verification of the objectives listed above will be based on the results of a pilot experiment carried out over an area of 10 ha., where 200 large fog collectors will be installed, to provide an estimated amount of 50000 liters of water/day.
This will be the first attempt in the world to generate water from fog in a coastal desert - one of the driest on earth, with only 5 to 10 mm. of annual precipitation for large scale applications in the managed development of an ecosystem.
The water will be used not only for plant cultivation, but for grazing animals and ultimately for domestic use.
Fields of science
Topic(s)
Data not availableCall for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contracts
Coordinator
35020 Padova
Italy
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Participants (4)
300 Arequipa
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Santiago
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50145 Firenze
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31062 Toulouse
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