Instrumentation enabling study of plant physiological response to elevated night temperature

Area of Science:

• Plant physiology
• Climate change research
• Agricultural science

Background:

• Global climate warming impacts crop and plant functioning.
• Existing methods for controlled plant heating lack accuracy, precision, reliability, mobility, or scalability.
• A need exists for a versatile system to study climate warming effects on plants.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and present a novel infrared heating system for controlled plant canopy temperature manipulation.
• To enable accurate simulation of diurnal and seasonal temperature regimes for plant physiology studies.
• To overcome limitations of current heating technologies in experimental settings.

Main Methods:

• Utilized overhead infrared heaters for rapid and precise temperature control.
• Implemented remote computer-based data acquisition and internet control for complex temperature regimes and real-time monitoring.
• Designed for mobility, allowing random allotment in open fields or greenhouses.

Main Results:

• Achieved precise temperature control within +/- 0.5 degrees C of set points.
• Demonstrated successful application in studying rice response to elevated night temperatures.
• Employed advanced control systems (PID controllers, SCR power controllers) for fast proportional heating (9 ms time base).

Conclusions:

• The infrared heating system meets requirements for plant physiology studies.
• Accurate, precise, and reliable control of elevated temperatures is achievable.
• The system minimizes perturbation of other environmental factors during experiments.