Examining Radiation Use Efficiency of Wheat in Controlled Environment Agriculture.

Radiation use efficiency (RUE) is a key parameter for developing simple models of crop growth and yield. The use of RUE values measured in the field often leads to underestimates of crop productivity of plant stands grown in controlled environments. Plant canopies in controlled environments are illuminated with high intensities of diffuse light, which never occurs in field settings. High fractions of diffuse light are experienced in the field during cloudy days but the light intensities of diffuse light are much lower than that of controlled environments. A canopy radiation model was used to calculate how much more light is adsorbed by wheat plant canopies growing in controlled environments with high fractions of diffuse radiation. This analysis may be used to describe the effects of global dimming on RUE, or be used to modify field values of RUE for use in models of crops growing in controlled environment agriculture.