Co-Authors:
Dayan, E., Besor Experiment Station Mobile Post, Negev 4, 85400, Israel
Presnov, E., Besor Experiment Station Mobile Post, Negev 4, 85400, Israel
Dayan, J., Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technion, Haifa, 32000, Israel
Shavit, A., Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technion, Haifa, 32000, Israel
Abstract:
This paper describes various efforts to integrate evapotranspiration measurements carried out by inexpensive lysimeters with the information received by standard sensors to measure radiation, temperature, humidity and CO2 concentrations within a commercial greenhouse (GH). Such a system enables the calculation of air exchange, transpiration and photosynthetic activity of the entire GH canopy. Integrating the output of these instruments for instantaneous calculations necessitates resolving variations in time responses as well as effects of precision, drifts, temperature and hysteresis. These problems were solved by the adjustment and development of calibration, positioning and operating methods, setting of synchronization and averaging procedures. The reliability of the collected data was confirmed by logical distribution profiles of the calculated characteristic values along the day and by their spatial distribution within the GH. The information flow was slowed by the procedures mentioned above. However, this measuring system suffices for the validation and calibration of crop models and for use as input for GH controllers.