INFLUENCE OF LATITUDE ON GREENHOUSE LUMINOSITY

Latitude influences maximum or potential luminosity in a region by affecting day length and sun height, whereas local microclimate modifies real insolation (according to haze) and light quality.

Problems of shape and orientation of greenhouses and shelters seem to depend less on latitude than on local climate, season and type of culture.

The method for estimating the luminosity received in a shelter needs careful study, for this affects the results and their significance.
The lighting of a shelter has to be estimated not only by reference to total energy received but also by its partition in time and space.
A shelter has to capture maximum light when this is in deficit and the other climatic factors are at their optimum.
It has to give a lighting of the protected surface as homogeneous as possible.

Although there is a lack of thorough studies made in the mediterranean countries, and in spite of the diversity of the climates, it seems possible to extrapolate the results obtained now in the north of the mediterranean basin and even in more northern Europe.

Symposium on Cultivation of Vegetables under Protection in the Mediterranean Regions

A. Nisen

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1974.42.2