TRANSMISSION PROPERTIES OF DRY AND WET GREENHOUSE CLADDING MATERIALS AND RELATION TO CROP PHOTOSYNTHESIS

Solar transmission properties of dry and condensate covered single glass and a common polyethylene film (PE) were measured as a function of incidence angle.
The experiments revealed that scattering by dry glass was negligible, in contrast to dry PE which scattered 47% of the transmitted radiation.
With the presence of condensate, single glass scattered 81 to 86% of the totally transmitted radiation, depending on incidence angle.
At an incidence angle of 30°, condensate lowered the total transmittance by 4%. The scattered fraction of the radiation transmitted by the PE film was increased to 78-83% by the condensate drops, but the total amount of transmitted radiation was reduced by 22-23%. To assess the effect of scattering on plant growth, net photosynthesis rates were simulated for a tomato crop.
The photosynthesis rate was predicted to be 16% higher under dry polyethylene when compared with dry glass due to the scattering properties of the plastic film.
The presence of condensate gave rise to a 13% higher photosynthesis rate under single glass and a reduction of 6% under polyethylene when compared with the respective materials in the dry state.

V International Symposium on Protected Cultivation in Mild Winter Climates: Current Trends for Suistainable Technologies

I.V. Pollet, J.G. Pieters, J.M. Deltour

Transmittance, forward scattering, condensation, diffusive, cladding properties

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2001.559.42