• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.251-257
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• 2004

This experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of different covering materials and methods on heat insulation of a plastic greenhouse, growth and yield of tomato. Night air and soil temperatures in a double-layer greenhouse with external multifold thermal cover (MTC; eight-ounce cassimere+four-fold polyform+double-fold non-woven fabric+single-fold polypropylene covering were about $1^{\circ}C$ lower than in that with internal MTC covering, but about $3^{\circ}C$ higher than in that with an EVA film screen. Tomato yield in the external MTC covering increased by $2\%\;and\;19\%$ as compared to that in the internal MTC covering and the non-covering of MTC, respectively, due to its high light transmission and insulation effect. Night air temperatures in a double-layer greenhouse with external MTC covering and with thermal screen (polyester plus aluminium) were $2.2^{\circ}C\;and\;4.5^{\circ}C$ higher than those in a double-layer greenhouse with an external MTC covering and in a double-layer greenhouse equipped an EVA film screen, respectively. Tomato yield in the treatment with external MTC covering and a thermal screen was $18\%\;and\;37\%$ greater than that in the external MTC covering and in an EVA film screen, respectively. Results indicate that tomato could be grown without heating or with minimal heating in a double-layer greenhouse covered with MTC and a thermal screen during the winter season in sourthern regions of Korea.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.72-77
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• 2011

The objective of the present study is to provide the basic data necessary for estimating the overall heat transfer coefficient of commercial plastic greenhouse. The heat flow through covering of greenhouses was measured and the variation of overall heat transfer coefficient was analyzed. Because the inside-outside temperature difference of greenhouse to indicate the stabilized overall heat transfer coefficient was different depending on the number of covering layers, the actual overall heat transfer coefficient should be decided in range of inside-outside temperature difference to make the coefficient constant for each covering method. The variation trend of the overall heat transfer coefficient according to the inside-outside temperature difference corresponded with the existing research results, but the specific values of temperature difference to present the stabilized overall heat transfer coefficient were different each other. The increase rates of overall heat transfer coefficient with wind speed were quite dissimilar among several research results and the quantity of heat loss through covering according to the wind speed in the double layers covered or curtained greenhouse was less than that in the single layer covered greenhouse. Because there was large variations among the values of overall heat transfer coefficient for the polyethylene film greenhouses, it was required to establish the standardized environmental condition for experiment measuring heat flow through covering in commercial greenhouse.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.142-147
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• 1989

In this report, we set up a simple device which enabled us to obtain data useful to estimate the relative capacity of thermal energy retention of greenhouse built with various plastic coverings. A box($20cm{\times}20cm{\times}30cm$) framed with flexiglass at the edges and covered with thin plastic films was made, in which were placed a thermostat-controlled nichrom wire heater and a thermal probe made of thermister to monitor temperature changes. A wheaston-bridge type transducer and a chart recorder were used to record the changes of temperature inside the box The data obtained by using the device showed that the relative rate of heat toss through plastic films with identical thickness decreased in the order of PE film>EVA film>PVC film and that IR additives such as fine silica gel improved the insulating power of plastic films. This observations are in well accord with general information, demostrating the feasibility of the device in usefulness for the purpose of screening of various commercial plastic coverings.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.473-480
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• 2014

Upon setting up a dedicated plastic greenhouse for tomato cultivation developed by the Rural Development Administration on the Gyehwa reclaimed land, this study was aimed at analyzing the problems can be occurred in the installation of plastic greenhouse on reclaimed lands as well as finding out solutions for improvement. A relatively cheaper wooden pile was used in the installation in order to supplement the soft ground conditions. Based on the results of ground investigation of the installation site, both the allowable bearing capacity and pulling resistance of the wooden pile with a diameter of 150 mm and a length of 10 m were computed and came out to be 30.645 kN. It was determined that the values were enough to withstand the maximum compressive force (17.206 kN) and the pullout force (20.435 kN) that are generally applied to the greenhouse footing. There are three problems aroused in the process of greenhouse installation, and the corresponding countermeasures are as follow. First, due to the slightly bent shape of the wooden pile, there were phenomenon such as deviation, torsion, and fracture when driving the pile. This could be prevented by the use of the backhoe (0.2) rotating tongs, which are holding the pile, to drive the pile while pushing to the direction of the driving and fixing it until 5 m below ground and applying a soft vibrating pressure until the first 2 m. Second, there exists a concrete independent footing between the column of the greenhouse and the wooden pile driven to the underground water level. Since it is difficult to accurately drive the pile on this independent footing, the problem of footing baseplate used to fix the column being off the independent footing was occurred. In order to handle with this matter, the diameter of the independent footing was changed from 200 mm to 300 mm. Last, after films were covered in the condition that the reinforcing frame and bracing are not installed, there was a phenomenon of columns being pushed away by the strong wind to the maximum of $11m{\cdot}s^{-1}$. It is encouraged to avoid constructions in winter, and the film covering jobs always to be done after the frame construction is completely over. The height of the independent footing was measured for 9 months after the completion of the greenhouse installation, and it was found to be within the margin of error meaning that there was no subsidence. The extent to the framework distortion and the value of inclinometers as well showed not much alteration. In other words, the wooden pile was designed to have a sufficient bearing capacity.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.314-320
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• 2014

Three leaf vegetables, namely green lettuce, red lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and red-veined chicory (Cichorium intybus) were grown in minigreenhouses covered with two new functional films and conventional polyethylene film (PE). Seedlings of leaf vegetables were transplanted in a plastic troughs filled with soil-perlite mixture. Two functional films were made from polyolefin (PO) material. Measurement of optical characteristics showed that polyolefin films have better transmittance for the photosynthetic active radiation (PAR, 400-700nm) and higher absorptance for the ultraviolet radiation (UV, 300-400nm) in comparison with the conventional PE film. After three months of utilization higher loss in PAR transmittance was observed for conventional PE film. Leaf vegetables growth was enhanced and yield was increased in greenhouses covered by new functional films.

• Plant Disease and Agriculture
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 1999

Ultraviolet light is required for the sporulation of Didymella bryoniae, a gummy stem blight fungus in cucurbits such as watermelon, melon, oriental melon, cucumber and pumpkin. In this experiment, the upper limit of wave length for the production of pycnidia of D. bryoniae was 365 nm - 375 nm. Two plastic houses were covered with either common transparent film (wave length longer than 225 nm is transmitted) or UV-absorbing film ( wave lenght shorter than 388 nm is absorbed). In both houses, seedlings inoculated with D. bryoniae were placed in the center of the house at 30 days after transplantation of watermelon (cv. Whanhoseong), and the disease incidences between the houses were compared until 80 days after transplantation. The number of disease lesions and incidence of pycnidia-producing lesions under the UV-absorbing film were reduced by 90% and 80%, respectively, compared to the common transparent film. The internode lengths of plants grown in the two houses were not significantly different, but the plants grown under the UV-absorbing film had longer vines and more leaves than plants under the common transparent film. However, fruit characters such as weight, length, width, rind thick and brix, were not different between the two houses. Occurrence of aphids was reduced in the UV-absorbing film, but those of mites or diseases (powdery mildew and sooty mold) were not different between the houses. These results suggest that disease incidence of gummy stem blight of watermelon in the greenhouse can be controlled by the use of UV-absorbing film.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.72-77
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• 2007

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of functional cover film on oriental melon fruit quality under unheated plastic greenhouse cultivation in cold period. The 6 kind of films having different characteristics were covered at plastic greenhouses and oriental melon seedlings were cultivated at 2 regions of Seongju, respectively. The air-temperatures in plastic greenhouses of J-1 and J-2, having high infrared absorption rate, were about $2{\sim}5^{\circ}C$ higher than K-3. The contents of ${\beta}-carotene$ and sugar of fruit showed significant difference between functional and normal films. The sucrose, determining a sweetness during maturation, and soluble solids content of fruits cultivated in J-1, J-2, J-3, and K-1 were higher than those of K-2 and K-3. Ascorbic acid of fruits was highest in K-2 having low light transmission rate and thermo-keeping capacity. There was no significant difference in mineral content among all of cover films. These results indicated that the use of functional greenhouse covering films could improve fruit quality such as ${\beta}-carotene$ and sugar content of oriental melon.

• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 2012

This study was conducted to provide data necessary for clearing up the way to be able to improve covering and management method of covering material in commercial plastic greenhouse. The photosynthetic photon flux(PPF) in representative 4 different commercial tomato greenhouses was measured and analyzed. The variation trend of daily integral PPF was in agreement with that of the duration of sunshine. Each of daily integral PPF for 4 different experimental greenhouses was quite dissimilar, and was less than the amount of PPF necessary to grow tomato. October to November of beginning of winter was a good season to replace covering material in order to secure more PPF during insufficient winter season in greenhouse. The main inside factors to interrupt PPF incidence were thermal screen, inside covering material, condensation receiver in greenhouse. The single wide span greenhouse covered with PO film was superior to the other experimental greenhouses in the aspect of PPF transmittance.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.293-302
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• 2014

This study was carried out to develop rain shelter which can make an appropriate size and environment for Chinese cabbage rainproof cultivation. Fifty three farms with chinese cabbage rainproof cultivation system have been investigated to set up width and height of rain shelter. Mostly the width of 6m was desired for rain shelter and the height of 1.6m for their eaves, so these values were chosen as the dimensions for rain shelter. After an analysis of their structural safety and installation costs by the specifications of the rafter pipe, Ø$25.4{\times}1.5t$ and 90cm have been set as the size of rafter that such size costs the least. This size is stable with $27m{\cdot}s^{-1}$ of wind velocity and 17cm of snow depth. Therefore it is difficult to apply this dimension to area with higher climate load. In order to sort out such problem, the rain shelter has been designed to avoid damage on frame by opening plastic film to the ridge. Once greenhouse band is loosen by turning the manual switch at the both sides of rain shelter and open button of controller is pushed then switch motor rises up along the guide pipe and plastic film is opened to the ridge. Chinese cabbage can be damaged by insects if rain shelter is opened completely as revealed a field. To prevent this, farmers can install an insect-proof net. Further, the greenhouse can be damaged by typhoon while growing Chinese cabbage therefore the effect of an insect-proof net on structural safety has been analyzed. And then structural safety has been analyzed through using flow-structure interaction method at the wind condition of $40m{\cdot}s^{-1}$. And it assumed that wind applied perpendicular to side of the rain shelter which was covered by insect-proof net. The results indicated that plastic film was directly affected by wind therefore high pressure occurred on the surface. But wind load on insect-proof net was smaller than on plastic film and pressure distribution was also uniform. The results of structural analysis by applying pressure data extracted from flow analysis indicated that the maximum stress occurred at the end of pipe which is the ground part and the value has been 54.6MPa. The allowable stress of pipe in the standard of structural safety must be 215 MPa or more therefore structural safety of this rain shelter is satisfied.