Calculation and Prediction of Water Requirements for Aeroponic Cultivation of Crops in Greenhouses

Crop aeroponic cultivation still faces issues such as insufficient precision in water supply control and scientifically-based irrigation scheduling. To address this challenge, the present study aims to establish a precision irrigation protocol adapted to the characteristics of crop aeroponic cultiva...

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書目詳細資料
發表在:Horticulturae
Main Authors: Xiwen Yang, Feifei Xiao, Pin Jiang, Yahui Luo
格式: Article
語言:英语
出版: MDPI AG 2025-09-01
主題:
在線閱讀:https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/11/9/1034
實物特徵
總結:Crop aeroponic cultivation still faces issues such as insufficient precision in water supply control and scientifically-based irrigation scheduling. To address this challenge, the present study aims to establish a precision irrigation protocol adapted to the characteristics of crop aeroponic cultivation. Using coriander (<i>Coriandrum sativum</i> L.) as the experimental subject, crop water requirements were estimated utilizing both the FAO56 P-M equation and its revised form. The <i>RMSE</i> between the water requirement measured values and the calculated values using the P-M formula is 2.12 mm, the <i>MAE</i> is 2.0 mm, and the <i>MAPE</i> is 14.29%. The <i>RMSE</i> between the water requirement measured values and the calculated values using the revised P-M formula is 0.88 mm, the <i>MAE</i> is 0.82 mm, and the <i>MAPE</i> is 5.78%. The results indicate that the water requirement values calculated using the revised P-M formula are closer to the measured values. For model development, this study used coriander evapotranspiration as a basis. Major environmental variables influencing water requirement were selected as input features, and the daily reference water requirement served as the output. Three modeling approaches were implemented: Random Forest (RF), Bagging, and M5P Model Tree algorithms. The results indicate that, in comparing various input combinations (C1: air temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, radiation, photoperiod; C2: air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, radiation; C3: air temperature, relative humidity, radiation), the RF model based on C1 input demonstrated superior performance with <i>RMSE</i> = 0.121 mm/d, <i>MAE</i> = 0.134 mm/d, <i>MAPE</i> = 2.123%, and <i>R</i><sup>2</sup> = 0.971. It significantly outperforms the RF models with other input combinations, as well as the Bagging and M5P models across all input scenarios, in terms of convergence rate, determination coefficient, and comprehensive performance. Its predictions aligned more closely with observed data, showing enhanced accuracy and adaptability. This optimized prediction model demonstrates particular suitability for forecasting water requirements in aeroponic coriander production and provides theoretical support for efficient, intelligent water-saving management in crop aeroponic cultivation.
ISSN:2311-7524