Dynamic modeling and simulation of greenhouse environments under several scenarios: A web-based application

Greenhouse crop production systems are located throughout the world within a wide range of climatic conditions. To achieve environmental conditions favorable for plant growth, greenhouses are designed with various components, structural shapes, and numerous types of glazing materials. They are operated differently according to each condition. To improve the pedagogy and the understanding of the complexity and dynamic behavior of greenhouse environments with different configurations, an interactive, dynamic greenhouse environment simulator was developed. The greenhouse environment model, based on energy and mass balance principles, was implemented in a web-based interactive application that allowed for the selection of the greenhouse design, weather conditions, and operational strategies. The greenhouse environment simulator was designed to be used as an educational tool for demonstrating the physics of greenhouse systems and environmental control principles. Several scenarios were simulated to demonstrate how a specific greenhouse design would respond environmentally for several climate conditions (four seasons of four geographical locations), and to demonstrate what systems would be required to achieve the desired environmental conditions. The greenhouse environment simulator produced realistic approximations of the dynamic behavior of greenhouse environments with different design configurations for 28-h simulation periods.