Raytheon Company is taking the fight to the frost with a new system using radio frequency technology.
Raytheon's Tempwave radiant heating system offers a more efficient way to warm crops and avoid the adverse effects of frost on the growing season.
The Tempwave system delivers energy directly to a crop without heating the intervening air. It works to prevent freeze damage in both radiation and advection frost events.
The system is silent in operation, uses no water, emits no smoke, and unlike a wind machine, it does not rely on environmental conditions for its effectiveness.
"Our expertise in radio frequency has enabled a disruptive product that frees growers from the limits and variations inherent in existing frost protection methods," said Lee Silvestre, vice president Mission Innovation for Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems.
"Tempwave autonomously and precisely delivers energy directly where it's needed to prevent freezing."
In successful concept testing on citrus crops in California, Tempwave radiators on towers were arrayed in an orchard, powered by grid electricity, and provided the needed coverage and intensity to protect orange groves from frost damage.
