Heat transfer processes in 'Shine Muscat' grapevine leaves in solar greenhouses under different irrigation treatments

Abstract

The use of solar greenhouses in China is increasing because they permit environmental conditions to be controlled. Studies of the heat transfer processes in the leaves of plants cultivated within solar greenhouses are needed. Here, we studied heat transfer processes in 'Shine Muscat' grapevine leaves under moderate deficit irrigation (MDI), severe deficit irrigation (SDI), and full irrigation (FI) treatments under varying weather conditions. The stomatal conductance, leaf temperature, and transpiration rate of both shade and sun grapevine leaves were measured, and the effects of ambient temperature and relative humidity on these variables were determined. A thermal physics model of the leaves was established to explore the heat dissipation process. On sunny days, the transpiration heat transfer of sun leaves in the MDI, SDI, and FI treatments was 2.62 MJ m−2·day−1, 2.44 MJ m−2·day−1, and 3.86 MJ m−2·day−1and 0.818 MJ m−2·day−1, 0.782 MJ m−2·day−1, and 1.185 MJ m−2·day−1 on rainy days, respectively. There was a significant difference in transpiration heat transfer under fully irrigated and deficit irrigation conditions under different weather conditions. Furthermore, transpiration heat transfer accounted for 41.49 % and 25.03 % of the total heat transfer of sun leaves in the FI treatment and 33.94 % and 29.43 % of the total heat transfer of shade leaves on rainy days, respectively, indicating that relative humidity plays a key role in determining transpiration heat transfer and leaf temperature and that its effect was greater on sun leaves than on shade leaves.

Keywords

• Heat and mass transfer
• Canopy temperature
• Transpiration water consumption
• Simulation modelling