Learning mathematical modeling need not be difficult. Unlike other books, this book not only lists the equations one-by-one, but explains in detail how they are each derived, used, and finally assembled into a computer program for model simulations. This book shows how mathematics is applied in agriculture, in particular to modeling the growth and yield of a generic crop. Topics covered are agriculture meteorology, solar radiation interception and absorption, evapotranspiration, energy and soil water balance, soil water flow, photosynthesis, respiration, and crop growth development. Rather than covering many modeling approaches but in superficial detail, this book selects one or two widely-used modeling approaches and discusses about them in depth. Principles learned from this book equips readers when they encounter other modeling approaches or when they develop their own crop models.

A discussion of challenges related to the modeling and control of greenhouse crop growth, this book presents state-of-the-art answers to those challenges. The authors model the subsystems involved in successful greenhouse control using different techniques and show how the models obtained can be exploited for simulation or control design; they suggest ideas for the development of physical and/or black-box models for this purpose. Strategies for the control of climate- and irrigation-related variables are brought forward. The uses of PID control and feedforward compensators, both widely used in commercial tools, are summarized. The benefits of advanced control techniques—event-based, robust, and predictive control, for example—are used to improve on the performance of those basic methods. A hierarchical control architecture is developed governed by a high-level multiobjective optimization approach rather than traditional constrained optimization and artificial intelligence techniques. Reference trajectories are found for diurnal and nocturnal temperatures (climate-related setpoints) and electrical conductivity (fertirrigation-related setpoints). The objectives are to maximize profit, fruit quality, and water-use efficiency, these being encouraged by current international rules. Illustrative practical results selected from those obtained in an industrial greenhouse during the last eight years are shown and described. The text of the book is complemented by the use of illustrations, tables and real examples which are helpful in understanding the material. Modeling and Control of Greenhouse Crop Growth will be of interest to industrial engineers, academic researchers and graduates from agricultural, chemical, and process-control backgrounds.

This volume constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Second International Conference on Geo-Informatics in Resource Management and Sustainable Ecosystem, GRMSE 2014, held in Ypsilanti, MI, China, in December 2014. The 73 papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 296 submissions. The papers are divided into topical sections on smart city in resource management and sustainable ecosystem; spatial data acquisition through RS and GIS in resource management and sustainable ecosystem; ecological and environmental data processing and management; advanced geospatial model and analysis for understanding ecological and environmental process; applications of geo-informatics in resource management and sustainable ecosystem.

Can we unlock resilience to climate stress by better understanding linkages between the environment and biological systems? Agroclimatology allows us to explore how different processes determine plant response to climate and how climate drives the distribution of crops and their productivity. Editors Jerry L. Hatfield, Mannava V.K. Sivakumar, and John H. Prueger have taken a comprehensive view of agroclimatology to assist and challenge researchers in this important area of study. Major themes include: principles of energy exchange and climatology, understanding climate change and agriculture, linkages of specific biological systems to climatology, the context of pests and diseases, methods of agroclimatology, and the application of agroclimatic principles to problem-solving in agriculture.

The configuration of Volume 9 of the International Treatise Series has been done absolutely due to commendable contributions from World Scientists of eminence in unambiguous fields. Amazingly, within the time span of nine years, now this treatise has been duly recognized through 151 Web of Knowledge Current Contorts in - the hearts of distinguished readers and has beyond doubt achieved the international status. This programme has been undertaken with a view to reinforce the identical efforts to recognize the outcome of meticulous research in some of the very sensible and stirring areas of Molecular Physiology & Biology of Plants. In order to sustain and further advance Plant Physiology, it is dedicated to continue the originality and the introduction of spanking new ideas, ensure that the treatise welcomes the best science done across the full extent of modern plant biology, in general, and plant physiology., in particular, persevere on advancing the quality of what is published, place high value on the quality of production, and be highly attentive and responsive to the rapidly changing face of academic publishing. In spite of handiness of quick accessibility of vast literature from internet, this treatise series in the field of life sciences has been realized over and above to be like a true guide, friend and philosopher, everlastingly enlightening the most hidden perceptible nerves of an individual worker, which is beyond the competence of mere web service. In Volume 9. with inventive applied research, attempts have been made to bring together much needed twenty review articles by Forty-six contributors from Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, India, Italy and Spain dispersed duly evaluated by the respective Consulting Editors of international stature from India, U.K.:4„ U.S.A., Argentina. Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Spain. Portugal, Israel, and Morocco and rationally disseminated in Nine Sections. Creditably in this volume, over ten important reviews belong to the field of Environmental Stresses besides covering significant areas of research. In reality the treatise is prosperity fir interdisciplinary exchange of information. Apart from fulfilling the firm need of this kind of exclusive edition in different volumes for research teams and scientists engaged in various facets of research in Molecular Physiology and Biology of Plants in traditional and agricultural universities, institutes and research laboratories throughout the world, it would be extremely a constructive book and a voluminous reference material for acquiring advanced knowledge by post-graduate and Ph.D. scholars in response to the innovative courses in Plant Physiology, Plant Biochemistry, Plant Molecular Biology, Plant Biotechnology, Environmental Sciences, Plant Pathology, Microbiology, Soil Science & Agricultural chemistry, Agronomy, Horticulture, and Botany.