Access to safely managed drinking water (SMDW) remains a global challenge, and affects 2.2 billion people^1,2. Solar-driven atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) devices with continuous cycling may accelerate progress by enabling decentralized extraction of water from air^3,4,5,6, but low specific yields (SY) and low daytime relative humidity (RH) have raised questions about their performance (in litres of water output per day)^7,8,9,10,11. However, to our knowledge, no analysis has mapped the global potential of AWH¹² despite favourable conditions in tropical regions, where two-thirds of people without SMDW live². Here we show that AWH could provide SMDW for a billion people. Our assessment—using Google Earth Engine¹³—introduces a hypothetical 1-metre-square device with a SY profile of 0.2 to 2.5 litres per kilowatt-hour (0.1 to 1.25 litres per kilowatt-hour for a 2-metre-square device) at 30% to 90% RH, respectively. Such a device could meet a target average daily drinking water requirement of 5 litres per day per person¹⁴. We plot the impact potential of existing devices and new sorbent classes, which suggests that these targets could be met with continued technological development, and well within thermodynamic limits. Indeed, these performance targets have been achieved experimentally in demonstrations of sorbent materials^15,16,17. Our tools can inform design trade-offs for atmospheric water harvesting devices that maximize global impact, alongside ongoing efforts to meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with existing technologies.

获得安全管理的饮用水 (SMDW) 仍然是一项全球性挑战，影响着 22 亿人^1,2。具有连续循环的太阳能驱动大气集水 (AWH) 设备可以通过从空气中分散提取水来加速进展^3,4,5,6，但低比产量 (SY) 和低日间相对湿度 (RH) 提出了问题关于他们的表现（以每天的升水量为单位）^7,8,9,10,11。然而，据我们所知，尽管热带地区条件有利，但没有分析显示 AWH ¹²的全球潜力，那里三分之二没有 SMDW 的人生活². 在这里，我们展示了 AWH 可以为 10 亿人提供 SMDW。我们的评估（使用 Google Earth Engine ¹³）介绍了一个假设的 1 平方米设备，其 SY 剖面为每千瓦时 0.2 到 2.5 升（对于 2 平方米的设备，每千瓦时 0.1 到 1.25 升）分别为 30% 至 90% 相对湿度。这种设备可以满足每人每天 5 升的目标平均每日饮用水需求¹⁴。我们绘制了现有设备和新吸附剂类别的影响潜力，这表明这些目标可以通过持续的技术发展来实现，并且在热力学限制范围内。事实上，这些性能目标已经在吸附材料的演示中通过实验实现了^15,16,17. 我们的工具可以为最大化全球影响的大气集水设备的设计权衡提供信息，同时通过现有技术实现可持续发展目标 (SDG) 的持续努力。