Modeling the Interaction of Plastic Film Mulch and Potato Canopy Growth with Soil Heat Transport in a Semiarid Area

Abstract

Plastic film mulch is an important agricultural technology to reduce water evaporation and modify the soil thermal conditions for crop production. The optical properties of plastic film mulch and the crop canopy growth are both key factors impacting soil heat transport in the soil-film-canopy-atmosphere ecosystem. In this study, a process-oriented model was developed to better understand the interaction among the plastic film mulch, potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) canopy growth, and soil thermal conditions. Canopy growth, photosynthetically active radiation transmittance, net radiation, soil heat flux, and temperature were monitored in a two-year plastic mulch field experiment in Wuwei (Gansu Province, China). Results showed that the simulation of daily soil surface temperature had a good performance with 2.8 and 1.5 °C of root mean square error (RMSE) for the transparent film mulch (TM) and black film mulch (BM), respectively. Moreover, the simulation of the daily net radiation and soil heat flux model indicated reasonable fluctuations with potato phenological development with the daily R2 ranging from 0.89 to 0.98 in 2014 and 2015 for the TM and BM treatments. It was shown that the canopy temperature under BM was greater than that in TM treatment, and the maximum value difference could be up to 7 °C during the early potato growing period, which implied that the BM may perform better in modifying the canopy thermal condition. The model could provide heat distribution information for plastic film choosing in potato field to avoid heat stress.

Plastic film mulching with ridge planting alters soil chemical and biological properties to increase potato yields in semiarid Northwest China

“…In this study, the increase in soil enzyme activity was an indication of potential improvement in soil quality. This was probably due to plastic film mulching changing the numbers of soil microorganisms, there are differences in soil microbial community catabolism, which in turn affect soil enzyme activities [21,37,38]. Soil urease activity in the different treatments first increased and then decreased during the growing season in 2019.…”

“…Soil urease activity in the different treatments first increased and then decreased during the growing season in 2019. Urease catalyzes urea hydrolysis in soil and has strong specificity [38]. Moreover, because urease is an important hydrolase in soil nitrogen cycling processes, it can reflect the N-supplying ability of soil to a certain extent [39].…”

A Review of Plastic Film Mulching on Water, Heat, Nitrogen Balance, and Crop Growth in Farmland in China

“…Plastic film mulching might increase or decrease the total latent heat consumption, which has been explained in detail when discussing the film mulching effects on water balance in farmland in this study. Plastic film mulching blocks sensible heat exchange between the soil surface and the atmosphere (Table 1), which, in turn, performs heat exchange through heat conduction between the soil surface and the plastic film [33]. The thermal conductivity between the soil surface and the film is much smaller than the turbulent diffusion coefficient, resulting in a decrease in the sensible heat flux under film mulching conditions, with a reduction rate of more than 50% [34].…”

“…During the day, the soil temperature is influenced by the optical properties of the film. Transparent plastic films can reduce latent and sensible heat losses, thus increasing soil temperature during the day [33]. However, the effect of black film on soil temperature during the day is related to the degree of contact between the film and the soil surface.…”

“…The impact of film mulching on surface energy reflection and water vapor exchange between the underlying surface and the atmosphere has been quantified, and the dynamic transfer processes of water, heat, and CO 2 in soilmulch-plant-atmosphere systems (SMPAS) under film mulching conditions have been described in detail [81][82][83]. Furthermore, photosynthetic effective radiation transmittance and canopy coverage have been introduced, fully considering the energy transfer process in the dynamic canopy, mulch, and soil to construct a heat transfer model for the drip irrigation of potatoes under film mulching conditions [33]. The above models have been validated to be applicable for the simulation of water and heat transfer and crop growth dynamics in farmland under the conditions of different film mulching ratios [35], as well as under plastic film with different colors [33].…”