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Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Estimating photosynthetically active radiation distribution in maize canopies by a three-dimensional incident radiation model

Xiping Wang A B , Yan Guo B , Xiyong Wang C , Yuntao Ma B and Baoguo Li B D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050016, China.

B Key Laboratory of Plant-soil Interactions of MOE, College of Resources and Environment, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.

C Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.

D Corresponding author. Email: libg@cau.edu.cn

This paper originates from a presentation at the 5th International Workshop on Functional–Structural Plant Models, Napier, New Zealand, November 2007.

Functional Plant Biology 35(10) 867-875 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP08054
Submitted: 7 March 2008  Accepted: 1 October 2008   Published: 11 November 2008

Abstract

The three-dimensional (3-D) radiation distribution model in plant canopy is pivotal for understanding and modelling plant eco-physiological processes. Diffuse and direct radiations penetrate into plant canopies in different ways and may present different intensity and wavelength composition. Sunfleck (the canopy surfaces where the direct radiation reaches) distribution in the plant canopy is usually regarded as an important index for crop development, especially under dense canopy conditions. Distributions of direct and diffuse components of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) in maize (Zea mays L.) canopies were estimated respectively using a 3-D incident radiation model (3DIRM). The 3DIRM model was set up for computing incident radiation in crop canopies by applying a parallel-projection based submodel for direct solar radiation and a central-projection based submodel for incident diffuse radiation simulation in crop canopy. It was well assessed with a field experiment with multi-point PAR measurement in maize canopies with relative errors of 2.6, 4.5 and 2.6%, respectively, for sunfleck area ratio, diffuse PAR and total PAR. The results suggest that the 3DIRM model could be used to estimate the direct, diffuse and total PAR at any specific surface part in the 3-D canopy space. The exponential distinction model for direct, diffuse and total PAR along with leaf area index in different heights in maize canopies was also evaluated based on the 3DIRM simulation results.

Additional keywords: diffuse radiation, leaf area index, light model, maize, PAR, sunflecks.


Acknowledgements

This study was sponsored by ‘863’ Hi-Tech Research and Development Program of China (2006AA10Z229), the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT0412) and Research Foundation of Hebei Normal University (L2004B13). Mr. Zhicai Zhang and Meiping Wen gave a lot of help in field measurements and data treatments.


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