High resolution 3D simulation of light climate and thermal performance of a solar greenhouse model under tomato canopy structure

Abstract The crop canopy structure has a significant impact on greenhouse microclimate, in return, the intercepted solar radiation and thermal properties of the plant canopy under greenhouse microclimate directly affect plant photosynthesis and so yield. However, in practice, it is very difficult and time-consuming to accurately measure how plants interact with microclimate over time. In this study, a new method was developed to evaluate micro-light climate and thermal performance on the example of Liaoshen-type Solar Greenhouses (LSG) including a detailed 3D tomato canopy structure, simulated using a functional–structural plant model (FSPM). The detailed surface temperature of each greenhouse component and the tomato crop on organ level down to the leaflets were simulated using advanced light modelling techniques. Taking the simulated light absorptions as input, the thermal conditions were obtained using specific energy balance equations. The simulated greenhouse temperature of the cover, roof, inside air, wall, canopy, and soil showed an overall good correlation to the observed values. The presented model can be seen as the first step towards a realistic 3D greenhouse/canopy simulation including extended energy balance computation based on physical-based light simulation, which can be directly transferred to other types of greenhouses and plant species.