Progress 03/01/07 to 02/28/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Designed and developed a monitoring and control network for a plant production system designed for NASA's deep space exploration missions. Work focused on automating irrigation management, provide remote plant well-being monitoring capabilities, and reducing light pollution from the plant production area in a Habitat Demonstration Unit where crew member work space and plant production area are integrated. Ran studies on direct-fired heaters in 2 greenhouses from January to April 2012. Compared A L.B. White, Therma Grow HW120 Plus (Direct-fired heater (DFH)) against a Modine PDP150AE0185 (Indirect-fired heater (IFH)). Completed evaluation of the direct-fired heater in a greenhouse by quantify the effects of the direct-fired heater system on greenhouse environment control such as heating energy efficiency, humidity, CO2 and ethylene gases, and its effect on plant production, including plant quality and crop scheduling. Published 1 article and presented 2 papers ("Predicting Shade Curtain Performance for Greenhouse Cooling" and "An Assessment of Direct-fired Heater Operation for Greenhouse Plant Production") and 1 poster at professional meetings. Also provided outreach on work at state and national levels. We were interviewed by Nebraska Public radio station, and USDA radio that led to three reports. We shared our direct-fired heater evaluation project results with more than 260 subscribers on an electronic High Tunnel Listserv, the automated irrigation management and plant monitoring project was reported in four mass media articles. Successful in obtaining a grant "Managing the emergent bacterial disease threat to Ohio's tomato industry" (Miller, Francis, Ling) to further study disease control issues in controlled environment plant production systems. PARTICIPANTS: Drs. Peter Ling, Martin, Jay, Kaletunch, Gonul of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department (FABE), Drs. Michele Jones and Claudio Pasian of Horticultural and Crop Science Department (HCS) TARGET AUDIENCES: Greenhouse Growers, Nursery Producers, Extension Educatprs and Researchers PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Our accomplishments to date include a blind system to reduce light pollution from plant growing area to crew workspace, and a fully functional remote plant monitoring and irrigation management system. The system monitors the plant production system's environment, plant growth, as well as leakage of the water delivery system. Air temperature, air relative humidity, PAR (photosynthetic active radiation) light intensity, canopy temperature, and soil moisture are monitored. Water usage and plant growth of the system can be determined from weight changes of the plant production system. For water leakage protection, a water flow cross checking algorithm is implemented. The amount of incoming water and the actual amount collected by the plant production system are compared to check for possible water leakage in real time. The water supply is turned off by shutting off the irrigation valve as well the master valve whenever a leakage is determined. Results from studies on the direct-fired heaters showed: DFH are more energy efficient in heating a greenhouse and used 11% less fuel than the indirect-fired heater in studies; ethylene levels in both the DFH, and the IFH heated greenhouses are below the detectable level of 5 ppb and no epinasty, distorted growth, or flower abscission that might be attributed to ethylene or other hydro carbon contamination was observed in either greenhouse; CO2 level in the DFH heated greenhouse is higher, plants were found more compact and no negative effect on the plant growth was observed; minor differences were noted in humidity levels - slightly higher relative humidity, < 2% difference, was found in the DFH heated greenhouse compared to that of the IFH heated greenhouse but no plant damage or other issues identified or associated with humidity levels with the DFH heating system. The automated irrigation management system and plant monitoring platform we developed is a valuable tool for labor efficient, long term plant response studies. The findings from the direct-fired-heater study are valuable information for plant production in elevated CO2 environments.
Publications
- Jones, M. L. and P. Ling. 2012. Preventing ethylene damage in the production greenhouse. Greenhouse management. November 2012. Pp. 45-47. (Editor reviewed)
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Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Effort in 2011 was devoted to 1) continuing development of a decision support tool (GHE) for assessing cooling requirements of greenhouse operations, and 2) evaluate crop responses in cooler and CO2 elevated environments. Area 1. We continued to develop an energy analysis tool in 2011 to assess cooling performance of shade curtains for greenhouse operations. The main task conducted was development and validation of a model, and to develop a user friendly interface to allow the decision support tool be used for general analysis. The tool can be used to analyze cooling effect of user specified greenhouses by providing information such as transmissivity of a shade curtain, net radiation coefficient, greenhouse structural, and local weather information. Area 2. We continued to analyze the data collected from the experiments conducted in growth chamber and greenhouse experiments in 2010. The study focused on the effect of lower temperature and elevated CO2 combination on plant growth and development. Independent experimental variables included in this study were fertility, CO2 level, and insect activity. Our observations show benefits of elevating CO2 level to compensate slower plant growth in cooler environments. Most significantly, the lower temperature (3˚C) did not significantly affect plant growth, development, and plant quality while resulting in reduced insect activity and heating energy requirements. A student completed his M.S. study program and produced a thesis reporting effects of lower temperature and elevated CO2 on plant growth and development. Two manuscripts on CO2 work are being revised for publication. Work proceeded on USDA projects to address: teaching materials for greenhouse engineering/technology and disease control in greenhouse production. Two new grant proposals were funded: A multi-disciplinary one to secure a grant to evaluate direct-fired heaters for greenhouse plant production with a focus on heating energy efficiency related to moisture management, CO2 enrichment, and plant quality; and a student design team proposal (Dr. Ling advisor) to improve a plant production system for NASA's Habitat Demonstration Unit (HDU) Project. Our outreach effort included visiting more than 25 commercial greenhouses, delivered 9 presentations, and provided greenhouse engineering assistance to 10 project specific industry/non-profit entities through site visits and in person meetings. We have worked with public school, city, and municipal officials, and private industry leaders in planning protected plant production facilities. PARTICIPANTS: Ling,P.; Frantz, J.; Canas, L.; Pasian, C.;Keener, H. M.; Mears, D. TARGET AUDIENCES: Controlled environment plant production industry PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Our research laboratory and greenhouse facility were destroyed by a tornado on 9/16/2010. This required a significant percentage of effort for 2011 being devoted to rebuild our research capabilities beyond normal research activities and has delayed some research studies.
Impacts
The decision support tool GHE can be used to analyze cooling effect of user specified greenhouses based on transmissivity of a shade curtain, net radiation coefficient, greenhouse structural factors, local weather information, and desired temperature set points. The 2011 granting effort has yielded two grants to help address greenhouse heating issues and a plant production system for NASA's Habitat Demonstration Unit (HDU) Project. Outreach programming has delivered greenhouse engineering information to more than 130 greenhouse growers, Extension personnel, and greenhouse suppliers to improve energy efficiency of greenhouse plant production. Project specific information such as energy requirements, potentials of energy harvesting from waste streams, efficiencies of various lighting, performance of various heaters was provided to 10 organizations for their respective interests.
Publications
- Frantz, J.M. and P.P. Ling. 2011. Growth, Partitioning, Nutrient and Carbohydrate Concentration of Petunia x hybrida Vilm. Are Influenced by Altering Light, CO2, and Fertility. HortScience Vol. 2, no. 46. : 228-235.
- Rodriguez, W. M. 2011. Effects of elevated CO2 on growth, development, nutrient concentration and insect performance of plant grown at sub-optimal temperature. M.S. Thesis. The Ohio State University.
- Power, L. and P. Ling. 2011. Direct Sunlight Affects Temperature Measurement in Greenhouses. ForiBytes (VI):2. http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/floriculture/images/FloriBytes0611-GH engineering-temperature.pdf
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Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Major efforts in the third year of the project were devoted to 1) continuing development of a decision support tool for assessing cooling requirements of greenhouse operations, and 2) evaluating crop responses in cooler and CO2 elevated environments. We continued to develop an energy analysis tool in 2010 to assess the potential of using excess daytime heat, when cooling is called for, to meet heating demand at a later time for greenhouse operations. The main tasks conducted were data analysis for the model evaluation and establishing a user friendly interface to allow the decision support tool be used for general analysis. The tool can be used to analyze cooling requirement, or heat harvesting potential, of user specified greenhouses by providing information such as greenhouse structural, local weather information, and desired temperature set points. We also conducted growth chamber and greenhouse experiments in 2010 to study the effect of 5F degree lower than normal temperature and elevated CO2 combination to 800ppm on plant growth and development. Independent experimental variables included in this study were fertility, CO2 level, and insect activity. Analysis of the collected data will be completed in 2011. The aim of this study is to test the hypothesis of using lower growing temperature and elevated CO2 combinations to improve plant production energy efficiency. The floriculture industry is growing and one of the major concerns is the heating cost during winter and early spring. This cost can be decreased by lowering the temperature, but this can lengthen crop production cycle. CO2 enrichment on the other hand has shown positive impact on promoting growth of some plants. A journal article is in press reporting our findings of effects of lower temperature and elevated CO2 on plant growth and development. The data reported was generated from the 1st and 2nd years of our project. Petunia were grown in controlled environments in a 2-2-2 factorial study investigating how light, fertility, and CO2 influence growth and development, including shoot partitioning, nutrient uptake, and carbohydrate concentration. The influence of CO2 was complex with high CO2 suppressing flowering and enhancing leaf growth, but only midway through the 7-week experiment. Carbohydrate concentration remained high in elevated CO2, even when light and fertility were not limiting. This suggests a sink limitation, so even in high light and fertility, crop response to enhanced CO2 was low. Although CO2 had no size effect late in growth, CO2 suppressed nutrient concentrations. Research efforts for year were reduced due to tornado damages to our facility. PARTICIPANTS: Ling, P.; Canas, L.; Frantz, J.; Pasian, C.; Mears, D TARGET AUDIENCES: Controlled environment plant production industry PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The developed decision support tool was used to evaluate energy harvesting potential of unused greenhouse space. To reduce energy cost, many growers have chosen to close certain part of their production area to keep their energy cost down. The closed area could account for from very small (e.g. 5%) to very large percentage of their total growing area (e.g. 80%). Instead of shutting down heating completely, growers typically keep unused area at a few degrees above freezing, e.g. 38F, to satisfy insurance requirements and to keep equipment in the unused area from freeze damage. Even though the heating cost is relative small, keeping a greenhouse at 38F compared to 65F for plant production is still a liability that affects a grower's bottom line. Results of this study will enable turning the unused greenhouse space from being a liability into an asset. The idea is to turn the non-plant-growing greenhouse space into a solar collector to first satisfy its own needs of maintaining a temperature around 38F, and secondly becoming a supplemental energy source to heat plant production areas. Outcome from plant growth studies suggest strategies that growers can use in controlling their crop growth and development and indicate that enhanced growth (leaf and steam mass) may be at the detriment of development (flowering mass and allocation).
Publications
- Lee, Wee Fong. 2010. Cooling Capacity Assessment of Semi-closed Greenhouses. M.S. Thesis. The Ohio State University. Biffi, A.U. 2010. Development of an Autonomous Flying Insect Scouting System for Greenhouse Environments. M.S. Thesis. The Ohio State University.
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Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Major effort in the second year of the project was devoted to 1) continuing development of a model for evaluating active energy saving strategies for greenhouse environmental operations to improve CO2 enrichment efficiency, and 2) evaluate crop responses in cooler and CO2 elevated environments. We continued to develop a design analysis tool in 2009 to assess the potential of using excess daytime heat, when cooling is called for, to meet heating demand at a later time for greenhouse operations. The main tasks were to establish initial conditions and evaluation of a greenhouse energy balance model. A net solar transmission ratio was determined from collected field data. The ratio was then used to estimate solar heat gain of a greenhouse. The heat loss prediction using a widely adopted energy calculation procedure (Aldrich and Bartok, 1994) was also evaluated. The floriculture industry is growing and one of the major concerns is the heating cost during winter and early spring. This cost can be decreased by lowering the temperature, but this can lengthen crop production cycle. CO2 enrichment on the other hand has shown positive impact on promoting growth of some plants. The goal of this research effort is to investigate the feasibility of using lower temperatures and elevated CO2 concentrations as a way of reducing energy costs without compromising plant quality and production time. Additional experiments will be conducted in environmental chambers and greenhouse in 2010. Interpretation of the data will be done at the end of this study. PARTICIPANTS: Ling,P.; Canas, L.; Pasian, C.; Jones, M.; Mears,D. TARGET AUDIENCES: Controlled environment plant production industry PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The solar transmission ratio was determined using 2009 weather data collected from outdoor weather station and greenhouse indoor data acquisition system. The apparent solar transmission ratio for July, 2009 was approximately 0.5. This ratio is similar to the value, 0.7, found in Aldrich and Bartok (1994) but should allow more accurate solar gain estimation. We also found the energy loss calculation procedure suggested by Aldrich and Bartok (1994) performed well under cloudy but not clear sky conditions at nights. For more accurate heat loss prediction, one should take into account sky conditions and associated radiation heat losses. We completed an experiment in environmental chambers to evaluate effects of lower temperature and elevated CO2 combinations in 2009. Presetations were made at the following workshops: Ling, P.P. 2009. Mechanical IPM - Humidity Management and Insect Exclusion. Greenhouse Management Workshop. Columbus, OH. 1/25; Lee, Wee Fong, P. P. Ling, H.M. Keener. 2009. Cooling Capacity Assessment of Semi-closed Greenhouses. 2009 OARDC Annual Research Conference. Columbus, OH. 4/23; Ling, P.P. 2009. Precision Irrigation Management. 2009 Greenhouse Crop Production & Engineering Design Short Course. Tucson, AZ. 4/26-29; Ling, P.P. 2009. Phytomonitoring Technology and Energy Management Decision Support Tool Development for Controlled Environment Plant Production University of Arizona. Tucson, AZ. 4/30; Ling, P.P. 2009. Aerial Environment Monitoring. Agricultural Technical Institute. Wooster, OH. 5/6; Lee, Wee Fong, P.P. Ling, and H.M. Keener. 2009. Assessment of Energy Harvesting potential of Ohio Greenhouses. OFA Short Course. 7/12, Columbus, Ohio; and Lee, Wee Fong, P.P. Ling, and H.M. Keener. 2009. Cooling capacity Assessment of semi-closed Greenhouses. American Floral Endowment Board of Trustees site visit. 7/12, Columbus, Ohio.
Publications
- Wee Fong Lee, Peter P Ling, Harold M Keener. 2009. Cooling capacity assessment of semi-closed greenhouses. Presented at 2009 ASABE Annual International Meeting, Reno, Nevada, 6/21-24. ASABE Paper No. 097059. (Available at: http://asae.frymulti.com/newresults.asp)
- Ling, P.P. 2009. Harvesting Heat with Greenhouses. Ohio Country Journal. May issue.
- Ling, P.P. 2009. Tecnologia aplicada de riego de precision en cultivos de alto valor. International Tomato Congress, Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico. 7/23. (Available at: http://www.hortalizas.com/ehortalizas/americas/storyid=1805)
- Ling, P.P. 2009. Monitoreo de ambiente aereo en cultivo de chiles en invernadero. 1st International Pepper Congress, Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico. 7/24. (Available at: www.hortalizas.com/events/congreso/pdf/09pdf/tomato_pepper/presentati ons/jueves/Monitoreo_ambiente%20_ling.pdf)
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Progress 01/01/08 to 12/31/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Major effort in the second year of the project was devoted to 1) continuing development of a model for evaluating active energy saving strategies for greenhouse environmental operations to improve CO2 enrichment efficiency, and 2) evaluate the whole canopy photosynthesis system developed last year to assess plant responses to their external stimuli. Using the model, our analysis results show a peak cooling load of 144 kWhr was needed to keep a greenhouse of dimensions 23' X96' X8' closed year round. The greenhouse is a double-poly arch roof type located at Wooster, Ohio. Further analysis suggests semi-closed greenhouse designs could be more economical to implement, due to lower cooling capacity requirements, instead of fully closed operation. For example, a 50% peak load design met cooling needs 90% of the time in 2006. Results are consistent with those of Dutch researchers who have reported significant benefits of closed greenhouse systems. Development was started on implementing an on-line internet analysis tool for sizing the cooling/dehumidification of a greenhouse which would minimize greenhouse ventilation cost for northern climates. Work done to evaluate the capabilities of an open type whole canopy CO2 exchange rate (CER) system we designed and constructed for quick plant response measurements. The newly designed whole canopy photosynthesis measurement system performed well compared to a conventional system. It had a much faster response time while achieving comparable measurement accuracy. For example, to generate a net photosynthesis curve as a function of five CO2 levels, the times required were 247 min and 30 min for the conventional system and the CER System, respectively. For a step CO2 change, from 328 to 334 micro-mol mol-1, the response time was shortened from 12 min to 1 min before reaching a new steady state when a conventional system was replaced by the CER System. A patented application was initated by Ling, Klingman and Takahashi for Method and Apparatus for CO2 Exchange Measurement in Plants. Provisional patent granted. PARTICIPANTS: Ling,P; Canas,L; Pasian,C; Jones,M;Mears,D TARGET AUDIENCES: Controlled Environment Plant Production Industry PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The decision support tool under development can be used to specify internal cooling capacity requirements for desired greenhouse closure level. Will lead to improved energy efficiency of greenhouse production systems in Northern climates. The whole canopy CO2 exchange rate (CER) measurement systems have been adopted to study plant responses, e.g. photosynthesis, respiration, to environmental stimuli. The systems offer additional capability for analyzing integral whole plant responses that cannot be obtained using commercially available leaf level CER measurement instruments. Researchers will be able to detect dynamic nature of plant responses either due to transient nature of stimuli or diurnal response nature of the subject plants. It is of great interest to gain better understanding of transient responses at whole canopy level for early stress detection and better yield estimation. The short response time feature of this measurement system could be used to study transient responses of plants to their environmental stimuli.
Publications
- Takahashi, N., Ling, P. P., and Frantz, J. M. 2008. Considerations for accurate whole plant photosynthesis measurement. Environmental Control in Biology 46(2) 91-101.
- Takahashi, N., Ling, P. P., Frantz, J., and Klingman, M. 2008. Time response improvement of a whole canopy photosynthesis measurement system. ASABE Paper No. 085141. ASABE Annual International Meeting, Providence, RI, June 29 - July 2, 2008. (Published on CD (search at asae.frymulti.com))
- Takahashi, N., Isogai, A., Ling, P. P., Kato, Y., and Kurata, K. 2008. Effects of elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration on silica deposition in rice (Oryza sativa L.) Panicle. Plant Production Science 11 (3): 307-315.
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Progress 01/01/07 to 12/31/07
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Major effort in the first year of the project was devoted to initiate 1) construction of a model for evaluating active energy saving strategies for greenhouse environmental operations and 2) design of a whole canopy photosynthesis system to assess plant responses to their external stimuli. A model has been developed to determine hourly cooling and heating requirements as affected by instantaneous climate (e.g. solar radiation and temperature) changes outside of a greenhouse (Both, et al., 2007). Using historical meteorological data, the model can be used to size heat pump, storage device, and heat exchangers necessary to capture excessive heat during cooling stage for heating needs at a later time. To assure reliable and accurate CO2 gas exchange measurement, various whole canopy photosynthesis systems were evaluated and an open type system design was selected from two other types of systems been considered: closed type, and semi-closed type (Takahashi et al., 2007). The
literature review also helped us to better understand many mechanical and biological factors that may influence measurement accuracy including chamber leakage, CO2 differential between air inlet and outlet of a chamber, chamber air humidity, canopy air speed, acidity of growth media, and irrigation water to name a few. The findings were presented at national/international conferences, and a manuscript was prepared and submitted to a refereed journal for publication.
PARTICIPANTS: Ling, P Canas, L. Pasian, C. Jones, M. Mears, D.
TARGET AUDIENCES: Controlled Environment Plant Production Industry
PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: NONE
Impacts
Using the model, we have designed a heat extraction/storage system for internal cooling of a research greenhouse with reduced ventilation to evaluate closed/semi-closed greenhouse concept for Ohio conditions. The system components such as high efficient heat exchanger, heat pump, energy storage tanks, and associated plumbing needs have been identified. The review of whole canopy photosynthesis measurement systems has helped us to gain a better understanding of design and operation aspects of a whole canopy photosynthesis measurement system. This is important because this type of measurement system is not commercial available and a custom system has to be built and operational procedure established by the users to assure reliability and accuracy of gas exchange measurement before it can be use to assess plants responses.
Publications
- Both, A.J., David R. Mears, Thomas O. Manning, Eugene Reiss, and Peter P. Ling. 2007. Evaluating Energy Savings Strategies Using Heat Pumps and Energy Storage for Greenhouses. ASABE Paper No. 074011. Presented at 2007 ASABE Annual International Meeting, Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 17-20.(Published on CD (search at asae.frymulti.com))
- Takahashi, Noriko, Peter P. Ling, Michael Klingman, and Jonathan M. Frantz. 2007. System Approach for Improved Whole Canopy Photosynthesis Measurement. Japanese Society of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Engineers and Scientists 2007 conference, June 25-27, Sakai, Osaka, Japan. Paper number: B31-6, pp184-185.
- Takahashi, Noriko, Peter P. Ling and Jonathan M. Frantz. 2007. Considerations for Accurate Whole Plant Photosynthesis Measurement. ASABE Paper No. 074015. Presented at 2007 ASABE Annual International Meeting, Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 17-20.(Published on CD (search at asae.frymulti.com))
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