The nature of moisture at Gobabeb, in the central Namib Desert

Eckardt, Frank D.; Soderberg, Keir; Coop, L.J.; Muller, Annethea A.; Vickery, Kathryn J; Grandin, R.D.; Jack, Christopher; Kapalanga, T.S.; Henschel, Joh R.

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2012.01.011

Cited by 156 publications

(184 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Vegetation is restricted to ephemeral water courses and the eastern edge of the Namib Desert (Burke, 2006). Therefore, radiation fog originating from groundwater would be restricted to sites along the ephemeral rivers e.g., Stations 1, 2, 5 and Gobabeb, while that from rainfall would be widespread but generally restricted to topographic lows e.g., inter dunes (Eckardt et al, 2013) th June 2016 into mixed fog and radiation fog. The GMWL, LMWL, and radiation fog line were used as references and adapted from Kaseke et al (2017).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1). The central Namib Desert receives less than 25 mm annual rainfall (Eckardt et al, 2013), while the western half receives less than 12 mm (Henschel and Seely, 2008), resulting in an east-west decreasing rainfall gradient (Lancaster, 1984;Hachfeld et al, 2000). Fog occurs throughout the year but peak seasons differ between the coast and the interior.…”

Section: Site Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the dominant wind direction for all sites had easterly origins eliminating the ocean as the source because advective fog would have either north-westerly (Seely and Henschel, 1998) or southwesterly origins (Eckardt et al, 2013) (Table S3). Advectionradiation fog is associated with an increase in specific humidity due to inflow from the ocean during the daylight th and 7 th and June 2016.…”

Section: Classification Of Fog On the 17mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The most visible impacts of this advective fog on ecophysiology in the Namib Desert are thought to extend about 60 km inland, a region known as the fog-zone (Seely, 1979;Lancaster, 1984;Olivier, 1995). However, recent studies show that other fog types may be a regular occurrence in the Namib fog-zone, especially along ephemeral rivers and other low laying areas (Eckardt et al, 2013;Kaseke et al, 2017). Therefore we could be under-estimating the significance of other fog types, which hinders the understanding of the potential impact of global climate change on these fog dominated environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fog Spatial Distributions over the Central Namib Desert - An Isotope Approach

Kaseke

Tian

Wang

et al. 2018

Aerosol Air Qual. Res.

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Fog is a characteristic feature of the Namib Desert and is essential to life in this fog dependent system. It is often acknowledged that advective fog from the ocean is the dominant fog type over the Namib Desert fog-zone but recent evidence suggests that other fog types occur in this area. Knowledge of the existence and spatial distribution of different fog types will enhance the mechanistic understanding of fog formation and potential changes in this region, but such knowledge is limited in literature. In this study, we investigated fog spatial variations within the Namib Desert fog-zone by applying stable isotope (δ 18 O and δ 2 H) techniques to differentiate various fog types and identify their source waters. Isotope based results showed that at least three types of fog (advective, radiation and mixed) occurred in this region and what appears as a single fog event may include all three types. Results suggest that radiation fog was the dominant fog type during our study period. The results also suggest that advective fog (with Atlantic Ocean origins) either dissipated 30-50 km inland and the residual humidity combined with locally derived moisture to form mixed fog or advective fog incorporated local moisture along its trajectory inland resulting in mixed fog. Fog in the Namib Desert was consistently depleted in 18 O and 2 H compared to rainfall and this was attributed to sub-cloud evaporation of the rainfall as well as different sources of fog and rainfall. Sub-cloud evaporation led to enrichment of 18 O and 2 H in rainfall beyond that of the first stage condensate, fog. Advective fog is often considered the architect of the fog-zone in the Namib Desert, but our results demonstrated multiple dominant fog types during the study period, suggesting knowledge of both fog frequency and fog type is needed to better predict climate change impacts on the fog-zone.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Site Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Classification Of Fog On the 17mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fog Spatial Distributions over the Central Namib Desert - An Isotope Approach

Kaseke

Tian

Wang

et al. 2018

Aerosol Air Qual. Res.

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“…Despite this, populations exist in a range of terrestrial habitats Haacke and Odendaal, 1981) from the coast to many kilometres inland. Coastal Namibia experiences double the number of fog days annually of the inland areas (Eckardt et al, 2013;Lancaster et al, 1984;Olivier, 1995), and fog reduces the light intensity experienced by the geckos. The range in fog occurrence and density suggests that R. afer experiences a range of illumination over temporal and spatial scales.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Light level impacts locomotor biomechanics in a secondarily diurnal gecko,Rhoptropus afer

Birn-Jeffery

Higham

2016

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Locomotion through complex habitats relies on the continuous feedback from a number of sensory systems, including vision. Animals face a visual trade-off between acuity and light sensitivity that depends on light levels, which will dramatically impact the ability to process information and move quickly through a habitat, making ambient illumination an incredibly important ecological factor. Despite this, there is a paucity of data examining ambient light in the context of locomotor dynamics. There have been several independent transitions from the nocturnal ancestor to a diurnal activity pattern among geckos. We examined how ambient light level impacted the locomotor performance and high-speed three-dimensional kinematics of a secondarily diurnal, and cursorial, gecko (Rhoptropus afer) from Namibia. This species is active under foggy and sunny conditions, indicating that a range of ambient light conditions is experienced naturally. Locomotor speed was lowest in the 'no-light' condition compared with all other light intensities, occurring via a combination of shorter stride length and lower stride frequency. Additionally, the centre of mass was significantly lower, and the geckos were more sprawled, in the no-light condition relative to all of the higher light intensities. Locomotor behaviour is clearly sub-optimal under lower light conditions, suggesting that ecological conditions, such as very dense fog, might preclude the ability to run quickly during predator-prey interactions. The impact of ambient light on fitness should be explored further, especially in those groups that exhibit multiple transitions between diel activity patterns.

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Fog collection using hydrophobic and hydrophilic treatments on wrinkle‐based multilayered surfaces

Kim,

Choi

2024

Bulletin Korean Chem Soc

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This study evaluated the fog‐collection efficiency of wrinkle‐based multilayer surfaces using hydrophilic and hydrophobic treatments. The wrinkle structures were fabricated by leveraging the elastic modulus and Poisson's ratio of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and ultraviolet (UV) resin. The optimal wrinkle periodicity for fog collection was determined by varying the spin‐coating rate of the UV resin. Chemical surface treatments were examined by applying hydrophilic (hyaluronic acid [HA]) and hydrophobic (perfluoropolyether [PFPE] and TiO₂‐PFPE) agents. Surfaces with perpendicular wrinkles treated with TiO₂‐PFPE demonstrated the highest fog‐collection efficiency due to increased surface roughness that promoted droplet nucleation and growth. These wrinkles further optimized efficiency by facilitating the rapid downward flow of water droplets through the combined effects of gravity and capillary action. The study highlights the significant impact of wrinkle structures and surface treatments on fog collection, with the TiO₂‐PFPE treatment showing particular effectiveness and potential for applications in arid regions.

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The nature of moisture at Gobabeb, in the central Namib Desert

Cited by 156 publications

References 49 publications

Fog Spatial Distributions over the Central Namib Desert - An Isotope Approach

Fog Spatial Distributions over the Central Namib Desert - An Isotope Approach

Light level impacts locomotor biomechanics in a secondarily diurnal gecko,Rhoptropus afer

Fog collection using hydrophobic and hydrophilic treatments on wrinkle‐based multilayered surfaces

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