Evapotranspiration System as an Artificial Leaf

Background

The device, called ATMOSMART, is used in open fields and greenhouses for precision irrigation management, ensuring a reduction of wastewater volumes.

The farmers need to make improvements in irrigation and water management, in a precise and uniform manner, thereby increasing productivity.

Technology Overview

The device reproduces a complex biophysical process (i.e. transpiration) by integrating an intelligent membrane that is capable of reproducing the stomatal behavior of the crop according to the soil water status.

The device mimics crop transpiration by embedding an electrically driven porous intelligent membrane that interprets the stomatal opening-closure process. An electrical stimulus, which depends on soil moisture, establishes a specific water vapour resistance by actively controlling the size of the membrane’s pores. The released data will be an analogue of the actual transpiration and provide a hydrological quantity for precision irrigation management.

Benefits

• Unlike other methods of estimating transpiration, ATMOSMART simplifies mathematical complexity and minimizes embedded electronics, thus facilitating the technology transfer process to farms;
• From the climate change adaptation perspective, the device will optimize water resource use by accurately quantifying irrigation water volume and timing;
• No needs of wind speed measurement as an input: very variable in scattered systems and with uneven surfaces (e.g. urban environment);
• Smart design and simplified electronics;
• Increase in accuracy as compared to estimation methods based on weather forcing and hydraulic functions of soil, plant and atmosphere (agrohydrological models).

Applications

ATMOSMART is an enabling technology designed for the irrigation industry, aiming to mitigate the effects of the hydrological drought on crops with:

• A precision quantification of irrigation volumes and irrigation timing of enclosed growing systems (greenhouses), of open fields and urban environments;
• The definition of bioclimatic indices of the urban environment, linked to the human well-being.

Opportunity

We are looking for a strategic partnership that can provide for the production of our device and release it commercially.