Climate regulation in protected structures: a review

Abstract

The regulation of greenhouses microclimate is crucial for better plant development and higher yields. Chief microclimate parameters such as solar radiation, temperature, relative humidity, light and CO2 can be manipulated by various control actions, such as heating, natural or forced ventilation, CO2 dosing, humidification and dehumidification to provide suitable environmental conditions for all greenhouse crops. However, these modifications require further energy and fuel usage in the production process. Furthermore, greenhouse microclimate can be adversely affected by extreme climatic conditions and, therefore, optimal ambient control is required to perform complex operations involved in energy balancing, including low emissions and reduced cost of production. This paper presents the information on various parameters concerned with greenhouse climate regulation, their controlling methods and their influence on the crops cultivated inside the protected structure.