SHELTER AND ITS EFFECT ON CLIMATE AND WATER BALANCE.

The article presents a paper focusing on the study of agriculture in Denmark. Denmark has a windy climate. The yearly precipitation is about 725 mm in the South-West of Jutland and about 550 mm on the island Zealand where Copenhagen is situated at the East shore. The actual evaporation increases from about 350 mm on sandy soils in Jutland to about 450 mm on the South-eastern Danish islands with soils having a relatively high capacity for water available to plants. The highest actual evaporation coincides to some extent with the lowest precipitation. In this paper evaporation also covers the term evapotranspiration. The potential evaporation is considered to be near 500 mm for most parts of the country. In May-July the potential evaporation is much larger than the precipitation. Shelter is considered important in Danish agriculture to avoid wind erosion on sandy soils and to reduce water evaporation. The increased temperature by shelter is generally assumed to be more important in horticulture than in agriculture. It is well known that shelter increases plant production.