Improving Understanding of Microclimate Heterogeneity within a Contemporary Plant Growth Facility to Advance Climate Control and Plant Productivity

Evan Kutta; Jason Hubbart

doi:doi:10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14

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Improving Understanding of Microclimate Heterogeneity within a Contemporary Plant Growth Facility to Advance Climate Control and Plant Productivity

Evan Kutta, Jason Hubbart

Published in Journal of Plant Sciences (Volume 2, Issue 5)

Received: 1 September 2014 Accepted: 17 September 2014 Published: 30 September 2014

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Abstract

Greenhouse crop production is maximized by maintaining optimal growing conditions. Accurate management of climate conditioning equipment based on measurements of the internal greenhouse microclimate is necessary to optimize crop production. Traditionally, greenhouse microclimate is monitored by a single suite of sensors located at a fixed (often central) location that is considered representative of the entire greenhouse climate. To advance greenhouse crop production additional sensors may better represent greenhouse microclimate heterogeneity and improve performance of climate conditioning equipment. However, elucidating the proper number and distribution of additional sensors requires investigation. Distributed high resolution air temperature (n = 63), relative humidity (n=63), and incoming solar radiation data were collected between May 9th, 2012 and September 5th, 2012 to test the efficacy of conventional centrally located sensors to characterize the spatial and temporal climate variability inside three contemporary greenhouse facilities. Results indicate substantial microclimate heterogeneity with mean horizontal temperature gradients of as much as 5.0°C/m, and mean horizontal VPD gradients of 1.5 kPa/m. Most substantially, the maximum vertical temperature gradient was 11.65°C/m. Results indicate that as few as five properly deployed sensor assemblages (e.g. temperature, humidity, solar radiation) may be necessary to more accurately monitor horizontal and vertical microclimate heterogeneity in a typical greenhouse room. This would improve climate conditioning accuracy and improve the homogeneity of the internal greenhouse climate, which may result in increased productivity and profits for greenhouse managers.

Published in	Journal of Plant Sciences (Volume 2, Issue 5)
DOI	10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14
Page(s)	167-178
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Horticulture, Plant Productivity, Greenhouse Climate Control, Microclimate Heterogeneity

References

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Evan Kutta, Jason Hubbart. (2014). Improving Understanding of Microclimate Heterogeneity within a Contemporary Plant Growth Facility to Advance Climate Control and Plant Productivity. Journal of Plant Sciences, 2(5), 167-178. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14

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ACS Style

Evan Kutta; Jason Hubbart. Improving Understanding of Microclimate Heterogeneity within a Contemporary Plant Growth Facility to Advance Climate Control and Plant Productivity. J. Plant Sci. 2014, 2(5), 167-178. doi: 10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14

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AMA Style

Evan Kutta, Jason Hubbart. Improving Understanding of Microclimate Heterogeneity within a Contemporary Plant Growth Facility to Advance Climate Control and Plant Productivity. J Plant Sci. 2014;2(5):167-178. doi: 10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14

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@article{10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14,
  author = {Evan Kutta and Jason Hubbart},
  title = {Improving Understanding of Microclimate Heterogeneity within a Contemporary Plant Growth Facility to Advance Climate Control and Plant Productivity},
  journal = {Journal of Plant Sciences},
  volume = {2},
  number = {5},
  pages = {167-178},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jps.20140205.14},
  abstract = {Greenhouse crop production is maximized by maintaining optimal growing conditions. Accurate management of climate conditioning equipment based on measurements of the internal greenhouse microclimate is necessary to optimize crop production. Traditionally, greenhouse microclimate is monitored by a single suite of sensors located at a fixed (often central) location that is considered representative of the entire greenhouse climate. To advance greenhouse crop production additional sensors may better represent greenhouse microclimate heterogeneity and improve performance of climate conditioning equipment. However, elucidating the proper number and distribution of additional sensors requires investigation. Distributed high resolution air temperature (n = 63), relative humidity (n=63), and incoming solar radiation data were collected between May 9th, 2012 and September 5th, 2012 to test the efficacy of conventional centrally located sensors to characterize the spatial and temporal climate variability inside three contemporary greenhouse facilities. Results indicate substantial microclimate heterogeneity with mean horizontal temperature gradients of as much as 5.0°C/m, and mean horizontal VPD gradients of 1.5 kPa/m. Most substantially, the maximum vertical temperature gradient was 11.65°C/m. Results indicate that as few as five properly deployed sensor assemblages (e.g. temperature, humidity, solar radiation) may be necessary to more accurately monitor horizontal and vertical microclimate heterogeneity in a typical greenhouse room. This would improve climate conditioning accuracy and improve the homogeneity of the internal greenhouse climate, which may result in increased productivity and profits for greenhouse managers.},
 year = {2014}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Improving Understanding of Microclimate Heterogeneity within a Contemporary Plant Growth Facility to Advance Climate Control and Plant Productivity
AU  - Evan Kutta
AU  - Jason Hubbart
Y1  - 2014/09/30
PY  - 2014
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14
T2  - Journal of Plant Sciences
JF  - Journal of Plant Sciences
JO  - Journal of Plant Sciences
SP  - 167
EP  - 178
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-0731
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14
AB  - Greenhouse crop production is maximized by maintaining optimal growing conditions. Accurate management of climate conditioning equipment based on measurements of the internal greenhouse microclimate is necessary to optimize crop production. Traditionally, greenhouse microclimate is monitored by a single suite of sensors located at a fixed (often central) location that is considered representative of the entire greenhouse climate. To advance greenhouse crop production additional sensors may better represent greenhouse microclimate heterogeneity and improve performance of climate conditioning equipment. However, elucidating the proper number and distribution of additional sensors requires investigation. Distributed high resolution air temperature (n = 63), relative humidity (n=63), and incoming solar radiation data were collected between May 9th, 2012 and September 5th, 2012 to test the efficacy of conventional centrally located sensors to characterize the spatial and temporal climate variability inside three contemporary greenhouse facilities. Results indicate substantial microclimate heterogeneity with mean horizontal temperature gradients of as much as 5.0°C/m, and mean horizontal VPD gradients of 1.5 kPa/m. Most substantially, the maximum vertical temperature gradient was 11.65°C/m. Results indicate that as few as five properly deployed sensor assemblages (e.g. temperature, humidity, solar radiation) may be necessary to more accurately monitor horizontal and vertical microclimate heterogeneity in a typical greenhouse room. This would improve climate conditioning accuracy and improve the homogeneity of the internal greenhouse climate, which may result in increased productivity and profits for greenhouse managers.
VL  - 2
IS  - 5
ER  -

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Author Information

Evan Kutta

Department of Forestry, School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, USA
Jason Hubbart

Department of Forestry, Water Resources Program, School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, USA

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Evan Kutta, Jason Hubbart. (2014). Improving Understanding of Microclimate Heterogeneity within a Contemporary Plant Growth Facility to Advance Climate Control and Plant Productivity. Journal of Plant Sciences, 2(5), 167-178. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14

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ACS Style

Evan Kutta; Jason Hubbart. Improving Understanding of Microclimate Heterogeneity within a Contemporary Plant Growth Facility to Advance Climate Control and Plant Productivity. J. Plant Sci. 2014, 2(5), 167-178. doi: 10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14

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AMA Style

Evan Kutta, Jason Hubbart. Improving Understanding of Microclimate Heterogeneity within a Contemporary Plant Growth Facility to Advance Climate Control and Plant Productivity. J Plant Sci. 2014;2(5):167-178. doi: 10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14

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@article{10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14,
  author = {Evan Kutta and Jason Hubbart},
  title = {Improving Understanding of Microclimate Heterogeneity within a Contemporary Plant Growth Facility to Advance Climate Control and Plant Productivity},
  journal = {Journal of Plant Sciences},
  volume = {2},
  number = {5},
  pages = {167-178},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jps.20140205.14},
  abstract = {Greenhouse crop production is maximized by maintaining optimal growing conditions. Accurate management of climate conditioning equipment based on measurements of the internal greenhouse microclimate is necessary to optimize crop production. Traditionally, greenhouse microclimate is monitored by a single suite of sensors located at a fixed (often central) location that is considered representative of the entire greenhouse climate. To advance greenhouse crop production additional sensors may better represent greenhouse microclimate heterogeneity and improve performance of climate conditioning equipment. However, elucidating the proper number and distribution of additional sensors requires investigation. Distributed high resolution air temperature (n = 63), relative humidity (n=63), and incoming solar radiation data were collected between May 9th, 2012 and September 5th, 2012 to test the efficacy of conventional centrally located sensors to characterize the spatial and temporal climate variability inside three contemporary greenhouse facilities. Results indicate substantial microclimate heterogeneity with mean horizontal temperature gradients of as much as 5.0°C/m, and mean horizontal VPD gradients of 1.5 kPa/m. Most substantially, the maximum vertical temperature gradient was 11.65°C/m. Results indicate that as few as five properly deployed sensor assemblages (e.g. temperature, humidity, solar radiation) may be necessary to more accurately monitor horizontal and vertical microclimate heterogeneity in a typical greenhouse room. This would improve climate conditioning accuracy and improve the homogeneity of the internal greenhouse climate, which may result in increased productivity and profits for greenhouse managers.},
 year = {2014}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Improving Understanding of Microclimate Heterogeneity within a Contemporary Plant Growth Facility to Advance Climate Control and Plant Productivity
AU  - Evan Kutta
AU  - Jason Hubbart
Y1  - 2014/09/30
PY  - 2014
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14
T2  - Journal of Plant Sciences
JF  - Journal of Plant Sciences
JO  - Journal of Plant Sciences
SP  - 167
EP  - 178
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-0731
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20140205.14
AB  - Greenhouse crop production is maximized by maintaining optimal growing conditions. Accurate management of climate conditioning equipment based on measurements of the internal greenhouse microclimate is necessary to optimize crop production. Traditionally, greenhouse microclimate is monitored by a single suite of sensors located at a fixed (often central) location that is considered representative of the entire greenhouse climate. To advance greenhouse crop production additional sensors may better represent greenhouse microclimate heterogeneity and improve performance of climate conditioning equipment. However, elucidating the proper number and distribution of additional sensors requires investigation. Distributed high resolution air temperature (n = 63), relative humidity (n=63), and incoming solar radiation data were collected between May 9th, 2012 and September 5th, 2012 to test the efficacy of conventional centrally located sensors to characterize the spatial and temporal climate variability inside three contemporary greenhouse facilities. Results indicate substantial microclimate heterogeneity with mean horizontal temperature gradients of as much as 5.0°C/m, and mean horizontal VPD gradients of 1.5 kPa/m. Most substantially, the maximum vertical temperature gradient was 11.65°C/m. Results indicate that as few as five properly deployed sensor assemblages (e.g. temperature, humidity, solar radiation) may be necessary to more accurately monitor horizontal and vertical microclimate heterogeneity in a typical greenhouse room. This would improve climate conditioning accuracy and improve the homogeneity of the internal greenhouse climate, which may result in increased productivity and profits for greenhouse managers.
VL  - 2
IS  - 5
ER  -

Copy | Download