A field comparison of cloud water collectors in a mountainous region under low wind speed conditions in Eastern Mexico

Abstract

Cloud water was simultaneously collected in Teziutlan town, located in a mountainous region in the Sierra Madre Oriental, State of Puebla, Mexico, to compare three co-located cloud water collectors. Two of the collectors were passive; the first one was an omnidirectional collector known as ASRC (Atmospheric Science Research Center String Collector). The second was a metallic mesh collector with 0.041-cm diameter stainless steel wires woven on a polyethylene frame. The third one was an active collector in which air is aspirated through a duct at a rate of 3.5 m s^-1. Cloud droplets are collected on vertically strung wires on a teflon frame. Liquid water content and collector capacity were evaluated by the corresponding equations. The results indicated that there were not differences in chemical composition concentrations between the passive collectors, however, statistical differences were found between the active and passive collectors. Finally, the collection capacity was higher in the active collector than in passive collectors, due to the inherent differences in design between the active and passive collectors.