Spatial Variability of the Microclimate in Different Small Ruminant House Located in the Semiarid of Pernambuco, Brazil

Abstract

The spatial variability in meteorological conditions was evaluated in two small ruminant house with different constructive aspects, based on the variables of dry bulb temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and temperature humidity index (THI), through the generation of maps using the Kriging interpolation method. The experiment was conducted in two seasons, winter and summer, and the small ruminant house were denominated as: FNRG (facility at ground level with no ridge vent) and FWRG (facility at ground level and with ridge vent). The studied parameters were recorded by portable digital sensors, thermo-anemometers and thermo-hygrometers, with data collections at 9 am and 3 pm. With the analysis of the spatial variability of the data, it was observed that the pens positioned in the central region of the two facilities had the least stressful places to animals in two seasons and two times, where the FWRG presented larger areas with lower temperatures, within the comfort zone, compared to the FNRG due to the presence of the ridge vents, were the least stressful places for the animals in the two seasons and at the two data collection times. At 9 am, in the winter and summer, both facilities presented comfortable conditions for the rearing of goats and sheep in the morning that were not observed at 3 pm.