METEOROLOGICAL PATTERNS AND FOG WATER COLLECTION IN MOROCCO AND THE CANARY ISLANDS

The aim of this study is to characterize the synoptic weather patterns that justify fog water collection on the coast of Morocco and the Canary Islands. In spite of the fact that they are only 200 km apart and are both affected by the same stratocumulus cloud formation, the latter behaves differently. Furthermore, fog water collection is studied to evaluate its feasibility as a sustainable water resource to satisfy the drinking water needs of a rural population in SW Morocco. The study period was from 2006 to 2010. Standard Fog Collectors (SFC) and the Quarter Fog Collectors (QFC) that were connected to automatic meteorological stations with which hourly and daily data can be recorded were used. The average quantities of collected water were about 101/m(2)/day at both sites, but there is inverse seasonality since more fog water is collected in Morocco in the winter whereas in the Canary Islands this happens in the summer.