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https://hdl.handle.net/11681/12276| Title: | Passive techniques for manipulating field soil temperatures |
| Authors: | Marion, Giles M. (Giles Michael) Pidgeon, Dean E. |
| Keywords: | Global climate change Greenhouses Ground covers Soil temperature manipulation Passive solar devices Soil temperature |
| Publisher: | Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (U.S.) Engineer Research and Development Center (U.S.) |
| Series/Report no.: | Special report (Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (U.S.)) ; 92-14. |
| Description: | Special Report Abstract: Recent concerns about global climate change have focused attention on the methodology for manipulating field soil temperatures. The objective of this study was to evaluate several simple, inexpensive, passive systems for changing soil surface temperature in the field. Four classes of treatments were evaluated including plastic ground covers, fabric ground covers, fabric greenhouses, and open-top chambers. In general, treatments raised daytime maximums and lowered nighttime minimums. In some cases these opposite effects balanced, and there was no change in mean daily temperature. Five treatments changed mean daily temperature by at least ±1.0°C; these included black plastic (-2.6°C), two clear plastic treatments(+ 1.0°C), Reemay greenhouses (+1.0°C), and Reemay ground covers (+2.4°C). A multiple linear regression analysis of maximum temperatures indicated that the temperature differential between treatment and control plots was most strongly controlled by solar radiation > time > wind speed. Differences among treatments were greatest on sunny days and minimal on rainy days. Both the present study and previous studies suggest that these passive systems can alter mean daily soil surface temperatures by, at most, ±2.5°C. |
| Rights: | Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/11681/12276 |
| Appears in Collections: | Special Report |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SR-92-14.pdf | 8.93 MB | Adobe PDF |  View/Open |