Anti-frost wind machines: how technology saves crops from winter frosts

Frost causes millions in damage each year, and an effective way to avoid it is with anti-frost wind machines.

What is a “frost”

A frost is a cold weather event that occurs when the temperature drops below freezing. Despite its relatively short duration, it can also cause irreparable damage to organic material. Studies confirm that frost is the leading cause of loss of income for farms (Snyder, 2005).

The damage it causes

In sensitive perennial crops such as grapes, fruit trees, kiwifruit, pistachios and horticultural crops, the fruit suffers irreversible damage, with the damage varying depending on the temperature and duration of the frost. The most damaging frosts occur in the spring, but climate change is extending this time period.

Loss of production up to 100%

We are seeing earlier flowering as early as March or even February, so we have to deal with frequent temperature changes and rapid drops below freezing. Frost damage to flowers can be devastating: losses can reach 100% of the crop.

How anti-frost wind machines work

Causes

The main phenomena that cause frost are advection, evaporation and radiation. During frost caused by radiation, the sun heats the soil and plants, which then become warmer than the air. At night, the accumulated heat rises and remains in the air layer at a height of 15-18 meters above the ground, forming an “inversion layer” and a rapid drop in temperature.

Solution

AID anti-freeze wind turbines draw in warmer air from the inversion layer and mix it with the cooler air surrounding the plants and soil, thus creating heat transfer by forced convection from top to bottom and resulting in an increase in the temperature of the lower surface – and therefore the leaves, fruits and flowers – by approximately 50-60% of the inversion layers.