Frost protection
Controlling the air temperature on the farm is essential when it comes to anti-FREEZE controls.
We can do this with two different levels of technology. Using the air temperature sensor or the air temperature with the DRY & WET bulb sensor.
The wet bulb temperature represents a better leaf temperature during frost conditions and indicates the right time to start the irrigation system.
Sprinklers should be started before the wet temperature falls below 0 °C.
The threshold temperature for damage varies with the crop and the season.
In our management platform we can activate the Frost Monitoring function. This function allows to automatically set shorter transfer intervals during frost conditions and will allow to get live data of the key air temperature parameter during frost conditions.
Once the frost monitoring option is enabled on our Fieldclimate platform, transfer intervals of 5 or 10 minutes instead of 1 hour will be automatically set when the temperature drops below 5 °C.
In turn, a notification will be automatically created when the temperature value falls below 1 °C, and the threshold can be changed or further alerts can be added in the notification section.
This allows for quick activation of sprinkler systems for frost protection.
The following equipment is available for frost monitoring:
Basic station:
nMETOS 80
It includes the following sensors:
- Temperature & Relative air humidity
- Delta T – Optimum Spraying Time
- Dew Point – Frost Protection
- DPV – Optimal Fertigation Timing
Advanced station:
mMETOS Frost
It includes the following sensors:
- Wet bulb/dry bulb temperature
The wet bulb temperature more accurately represents the temperature of the leaves of the crop. It will drop in temperature earlier than the dry bulb temperature, allowing early notification of frost conditions.