InverSim: A Simulation Model for Greenhouse

C.A. Bouzo, N.F. Gariglio, R.A. Pilatti, D.A. Grenn, J .C. Favaro, E.R. Bouchet and C. Freyre

Kreder 2805, S3080HOF ESPERANZA, Santa Fe, Argentine
TE + 54-3496-420639. cbouzo@arnet.com.ar

Universidad Nacional del Litoral
Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias
Departamento de Produccin Vegetal
The Argentine central region stands out for a tempered weather
which causes considerable yield losses and quality problems for most
greenhouse crops during the warm season. In that case, the
knowledge of the greenhouse climate is essential to improve the
design of structures as well as the environmental control and
management (van Henten and Bontsema, 1996). Cooling the
greenhouse through natural ventilation is a cheap alternative for the
greenhouse located in warm climates, but this technique is
insufficient to achieve climatic conditions compatible with the crops
requirements during the warmest months, when high radiation loads
and high temperature slowed down the yield and the quality of the
production (Hanan, 1997). Ventilation allows the exchange of energy
and mass to take place between the greenhouse volume and the
outside environment (Kittas et al., 2003). Considering the greenhouse
as a solar collector, its behaviour can be modelled through the use of
a single-energy balance equation (Boulard and Baille, 1993).
INTRODUCTION
AIM
Develop a model aimed to describe the dynamic behaviour of air
temperature and humidity inside the greenhouse.
Theory
The greenhouse thermal behaviour during day time is described
by means of a simplified energy balance equation:
0 T Kc e Kl T Ks S
The first three terms of Eqn. (1) respectively represent the
greenhouse radiative gain and the sensible and latent heat exchange
by ventilation (Boulard and Baille, 1993). The fourth term represents
the overall sensible heat transfer at the cover surface and includes
the convective and radiative (thermal) losses.
The water vapour balance is calculated by the following formula,
modified according to Jolliet (1994), in which the soil evaporation rate
and the condensation rate at the inner face of the greenhouse cover
are neglected.


Crop transpiration (lEt, W m
-2
), which was calculated by:


Combining equations (1), (2) and (3), we obtain a two-equation
system with two unknown variables, which allow us to estimate the
gradients between the inside and the outside of the greenhouse, for
water vapour (e) and air temperature (T).







Experimental set up
To validate the model a greenhouse with metallic structure (Figure 1
and 2) was used (ADC Greenhouses) in Santa Fe, Argentine (31
30' S, 62 15' W). Seven sensors were placed inside the greenhouse
at 2 m above ground in order to measure the air temperature (C)
and the relative humidity (%), through a weather automatic station
LiCor LI-1400 (Lincoln, USA). Outside the greenhouse, a weather
automatic station Davis Weather-Link (Hayward, USA) was installed
containing sensors to measure outdoor conditions: air temperature
(C), relative humidity (C), solar radiation (W m
-2
) and wind velocity
(m s
-1
).
0 W D b e Kl) (b T b S a
(e) (Te)
l
e b S a Et
i ) (
l
)
)
Kl
Kc) (Ks Kl) (b
( b
W S a D b S
Kl
Kl b
(
T
(Te)
(e)

l
Kl
Kc) (Ks T S
e



(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 1 and 2: Greenhouse used to validate the InverSim model.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
048
1
2
1
6
2
0048
1
2
1
6
2
0048
1
2
1
6
2
0048
1
2
1
6
2
0048
1
2
1
6
2
0048
1
2
1
6
2
0048
1
2
1
6
2
0
Time (h)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(

C
)
Sensor 1 Sensor 2 Sensor 3 Sensor 4 Sensor 5 Sensor 6 Sensor 7 Calculated
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7
Open: 10:50 AM
Closed: 05:15 PM
Open: 09:30 AM
Closed: 07:00 PM
Open: 10:45 AM
Closed: 06:00 PM
Open: 08:20 AM
Closed: 05:00 PM
Greenhouse closed Open: 10:20 AM
Closed: 05:45 PM
Open: 03:00 PM
Closed: 07:00 PM
RESULTS
Figure 3. Daily trend of the calculated values of the air temperature by the InverSim model
and of measured values given by seven sensors located inside the greenhouse.
CT = 0.99 MT + 0.44
R
2
= 0.88
0
10
20
30
40
50
0 10 20 30 40 50
Measured Temperature MT (C)
C
a
l
c
u
l
a
t
e
d

T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

C
T

(

C
)
RMSE = 3.9 C
CRH = 0.80 MRH + 16.39
R
2
= 0.70
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Measured Relative Humidity MRH (%)
C
a
l
c
u
l
a
t
e
d

R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

H
u
m
i
d
i
t
y

C
R
H

(
%
)
RMSE = 11.8 %
The new model InverSim es able to calculate inside air temperature and humidity of the a
greenhouse directly from the outside climatic conditions.
The comparison with measurements shows that the present model allows a good prediction of
air temperature although the relative humidity was less satisfactory due to the fluctuations
observed in some days between the measured and predicted values.
CONCLUSIONS
Figure 4: Calculated vs. measured values (a) of the air temperature and (b) of the air relative
humidity.
Boulard, T. and Baille, A. 1993. Agric. For. Meteorol. 65:145-157.
Hanan, J.J.1997.Greenhouses:Advanced Technology for Protected Horticulture. CRCPress 720 p.
Jolliet, O. 1994. J Agric. Engng. Res. 57: 23-37.
Kittas, C., Bartzanas, T. and Jaffrin, A. 2003. Biosystems Engineering 85(1):87-94.
van Henten, E.J. and Bontsema, J. 1996. Acta Hort. 406:213-220.

Literature Cited
Figure 5: Output of the InverSim model in a personal computer.