Agrivoltaic systems, also called solar sharing, stated from an idea that utilizes sunlight above the light saturation point of crops for power generation using solar panels. The agrivoltaic systems are expected to reduce the incident solar radiation, the consequent surface cooling effect, and evapotranspiration, and bring additional income to farms through solar power generation by combining crops with solar photovoltaics. In this study, to evaluate if agrivoltaic systems are suitable for viticulture, we investigated the microclimatic change, the growth of vines and the characteristics of grape grown under solar panels set by planting lines compared with ones in open vineyards. There was high reduction of wind speed during over-wintering season, and low soil temperature under solar panel compared to those in the open field. There was not significant difference in total carbohydrates and bud burst in bearing mother branches between plots. Despite high content of chlorophyll in vines grown under panels, there is no significant difference in shoot growth of vines, berry weight, cluster weight, total soluble solid content and acidity of berries, and anthocyanin content of berry skins in harvested grapes in vineyards under panels and open vineyards. It was observed that harvesting season was delayed by 7-10 days due to late skin coloration in grapes grown in vineyards under panels compared to ones grown in open vineyards. The results from this study would be used as data required in development of viticulture system under panel in the future and further study for evaluating the influence of agrivoltaic system on production of crops including grapes.

Background and objective: For a successful application of agrivoltaic (AV) system, decrease in crop productivity must be minimized while achieving power generation. In this study, changes in microenvironments, crop growth and quality under the AV panels were investigated for kimchi cabbage.Methods: On September 1, 2021, kimchi cabbage (<i>Brassica rapa</i> ssp. <i>pekinensis</i>) 'Bulam No. 3' was planted in the soil under the AV panels and in an open field for the control, and grown using a conventional method. Growth characteristics and internal components after 16 weeks were analyzed.Results: There was no difference in air temperature and relative humidity, however daily light integral (DLI) and soil temperature under the AV panels were lower than the control. Under the AV panels, plant width was lesser and plant height and head height were greater than the control. Head shape index and leaf number of the AV panel plot were greater than in the control. Trimming loss rate was lower but chlorophyll content was higher in the AV panel plot. Head hardness was lower in the AV panel plot, while head fresh weight was greater but head dry weight was smaller in the AV panel plot: therefore, moisture content was greater than the control. Marketable crop yield and heading rate was higher in the AV panel plot.Conclusion: The environmental changes caused by AV panels including the DLI and soil temperature induced a larger fresh weight, higher heading and trimming loss rates because a relatively good environment was created in the early crop stage which was the period of high temperature and DLI. However, the lower DLI of the latter period had a rather negative effect, resulting in an elongated shape, smaller dry weight, and shorter shelf life.

Background and objective: Moth orchids in the vegetative stage are suitable for a multi-layer growing environment in a closed-type plant factory which can be a good alternative that can reduce production costs by reducing cultivation time and energy cost per plant. This study was conducted to find out the optimal rhizospheric environment for different irrigation methods without a potting medium and rhizospheric ventilation for the vegetative growth of young Phalaenopsis hybrid 'Blanc Rouge' (P. KV600 × P. Kang 1) and Phalaenopsis Queen Beer 'Mantefon' in a closed-type plant factory system. Methods: The one-month-old clonal micropropagules with bare roots rapped with a sponges were fixed on the holes of styrofoam plates above growth beds, and were watered using the ebb-and-flow (EBB) and aeroponic (AER) methods with Ichihashi solution (0.5 strength) once a day at 06:00 (P) or 18:00 (S), and both (PS). Rhizospheric ventilation (V) was also applied to change the temperature, relative humidity, and CO2 concentration of the beds. Plants potted into sphagnum moss and watered once a week were used as the control group. Results: After 12 months of treatment, the growth characteristics of the EBB groups were the best among the treatment groups without a medium, but no effect of irrigation timing was observed. V reduced the temperature, relative humidity and CO2 concentration of the beds. Whereas, EBB+V (ebb-and-flow with ventilation) improved plant growth and reduced the occurrence of disorders and withering. Especially, EBB+V showed a similar performance to the control group. Conclusion:The results indicated that the optimal irrigation method without a potting medium for producing middle-aged potted moth orchids was the EBB system with forced rhizospheric ventilation. Therefore, further studies on the optimal ventilation method and moisture control of the crown need to be carried out to develop the irrigation system without a potting medium for vertical farming in closed-type plant factories.

In this study, oxidation of As (III) as well as removal of total arsenic by adsorbents coated with single oxides or multi-oxides (Fe (III), Mn (IV), Al (III)) was investigated. In addition, multi-functional properties of adsorbents coated with multi-oxides were evaluated. Finally, application of activated carbon impregnated with Fe or Mn-oxides on the treatment of As (III) or As (V) was studied. As (V) adsorption results with adsorbents containing Fe and Al shows that adsorbents containing Fe show a greater removal of As (V) at pH 4 than at pH 7. In contrast adsorbents containing Al shows a favorable removal of As (V) at pH 7 than at pH 4. In case of iron sand, it has a negligible adsorption capacity for As (V) although it contains 217.9 g-Fe/kg-adsorbent. Oxidation result shows that manganese coated sand (MCS) has the greatest As (III) oxidation capacity among all metal oxides at pH 4. Oxidation efficiency of As (III) by IMCS (iron and manganese coated sand) was less than that by MCS. However the total removed amount of arsenic by IMCS was greater than that by MCS.

A variety of physical, chemical, and microbiological techniques have been developed to deal with soil and groundwater contamination. However, in the presence of the large portion of soil micro-environments, contaminant rebound and/or tailing have been frequently reported. Case study of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) removal by full-scale land farming showed that contaminant rebound and/or tailing occurred in 9 out of total 21 cases and subsequently resulted in problems of a long term operation to satisfy TPH guidelines of contaminated soil and groundwater. The main cause of contaminant rebound and tailing is considered to be the strong interactions between contaminants and micro-environments including micro-particles, micro-pores, and organic matter. Thus, this study reviewed the effects of soil microenvironments of soil and groundwater on the removal efficiency for both heavy metals and petroleum contaminants. In addition, the various methods of sampling, analysis, and assessment of soil micro-environments were evaluated. Thorough understanding of the effects of soil micro-environments on contaminant removal will be essential to achieve a costeffective and efficient solution to contaminated sites.