Radiation transfer estimate in a row canopy: a simple procedure

Abstract A simple procedure is proposed in order to estimate the penetration of the photosynthetically active component of solar radiation into crops or plantations with continuous rows. Based on already described geometrical models, it accounts for direct and diffuse radiation, and includes radiation paths going through one or more rows. Direct observations are collected for a large number of situations in canopies with various row arrangements. The comparison between calculated and observed data shows a fairly good agreement, which proves the validity of the theoretical model. Some examples show improvements over models for continuous canopies.