• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.226-235
• /
• 2023

This study aimed to supplement the shortcomings of the Multiple-sensor-based Frost Observation System (MFOS). The developed frost observation system is an improvement of the existing system. Based on the leaf wetness sensor (LWS), it not only detects frost but also functions to predict surface temperature, which is a major factor in frost occurrence. With the existing observation system, 1) it is difficult to observe ice (frost) formation on the surface when capturing an image of the LWS with an RGB camera because the surface of the sensor reflects most visible light, 2) images captured using the RGB camera before and after sunrise are dark, and 3) the thermal infrared camera only shows the relative high and low temperature. To identify the ice (frost) generated on the surface of the LWS, a LWS that was painted black and three sheets of glass at the same height to be used as an auxiliary tool to check the occurrence of ice (frost) were installed. For RGB camera shooting before and after sunrise, synchronous LED lighting was installed so the power turns on/off according to the camera shooting time. The existing thermal infrared camera, which could only assess the relative temperature (high or low), was improved to extract the temperature value per pixel, and a comparison with the surface temperature sensor installed by the National Institute of Meteorological Sciences (NIMS) was performed to verify its accuracy. As a result of installing and operating the MFOS v2, which reflects these improvements, the accuracy and efficiency of automatic frost observation were demonstrated to be improved, and the usefulness of the data as input data for the frost prediction model was enhanced.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.42 no.2
• /
• pp.117-125
• /
• 2017

Purpose: Damage to pulse crops by wild birds is a serious problem. The damage is to such an extent that the rate of damage during the period between seeding and cotyledon stages reaches 54.6% on an average. In this study, a crop-position detection method was developed wherein infrared (IR) sensors were used to determine the cotyledon position under a vinyl mulch. Methods: IR sensors that helped measure the temperature were used to locate the cotyledons below the vinyl mulch. A single IR sensor module was installed at three locations of the crops (peanut, red lettuce, and crown daisy) in the cotyledon stage. The representative thermal response of a $16{\times}4$ pixel area was detected using this sensor in the case where the distance from the target was 25 cm. A spatial image was applied to the two-dimensional temperature distribution using a non-integral moving-average method. The collected data were first processed by taking the moving average via interpolation to determine the frame where the variance was the lowest for a resolution unit of 1.02 cm. Results: The temperature distribution was plotted corresponding to a distance of 10 cm between the crops. A clear leaf pattern of the crop was visually confirmed. However, the temperature distribution after the normalization was unclear. The image conversion and frequency-conversion graphs were obtained based on the moving average by averaging the points corresponding to a frequency of 40 Hz for 8 pixels. The most optimized resolutions at locations 1, 2, and 3 were found on 3.4, 4.1, and 5.6 Pixels, respectively. Conclusions: In this study, to solve the problem of damage caused by birds to crops in the cotyledon stage after seeding, the vinyl mulch is punched after seeding. The crops in the cotyledon stage could be accurately located using the proposed method. By conducting the experiments using the single IR sensor and a sliding mechanical device with the help of a non-integral interpolation method, the crops in the cotyledon stage could be precisely located.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
• /
• 2017.04a
• /
• pp.156-156
• /
• 2017

Most crop damages have been occurred by vermin(e.g., wild birds and herbivores) during the period between seeding and the cotyledon level. In this study, to minimize the damage by vermin and acquire the benefits such as protection against weeds and maintenance of water content in soil, immediately vinyl mulching after seeding was devised. Vinyl mulching has been generally covered with black color vinyl, that crop seeding locations cannot be detected by visible light range. Before punching vinyl, non-contact and non-destructive methods that can continuously determine the locations are necessary. In this study, a crop position detection method was studied that uses infrared thermal image sensor to determine the cotyledon position under vinyl mulch. The moving system for acquiring image arrays has been developed for continuously detecting crop locations under plastic mulching on the field. A sliding mechanical device was developed to move the sensor, which were arranged in the form of a linear array, perpendicular to the array using a micro-controller integrated with a stepping motor. The experiments were conducted while moving 4.00 cm/s speed of the IR sensor by the rotational speed of the stepping motor based on a digital pulse width modulation signal from the micro-controller. The acquired images were calibrated with the spatial image correlation. The collected data were processed using moving averaging on interpolation to determine the frame where the variance was the smallest in resolution units of 1.02 cm. For this study, the spline method was relatively faster than the other polynomial interpolation methods, because it has a lower maximum order of formulation when using a system such as the tridiagonal linear equation system which provided the capability of real-time processing. The temperature distribution corresponding to the distance between the crops was 10 cm, and the more clearly the leaf pattern of the crop was visually confirmed. The frequency difference was decreased, as the number of overlapped pixels was increased. Also the wave pattern of points where the crops were recognized were reduced.

• FLOWER RESEARCH JOURNAL
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.186-192
• /
• 2010

An infrared heating system, installed in a small venlo-type glasshouse ($280m^2$) in Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea, was used to investigate its heating effect with potted Phalaenopsis, Schefflera arboricola 'Hongkong', Ficus elastica 'Variegata', and Rosa hybrida 'Yellow King' as the test plants. Temperature changes in test plants with the system turned 'On' and 'Off' were measured by using an infrared camera and the consumption of electricity by this infrared heating system was measured and analyzed. In potted Phalaenopsis, when the set air temperature of the greenhouse was $18^{\circ}C$, temperature of leaves and the growing medium were $22.8{\sim}27^{\circ}C$ and $21.3{\sim}24.3^{\circ}C$, respectively. In such tall plants as Schefflera arboricola 'Hongkong' and Ficus elastica 'Variegata', the upper part showed the highest temperature of 24.0 and $26.9^{\circ}C$, respectively. From the results of temperature change measurements, the plant temperatures were near or above the set point temperatures with some fluctuations depending on the position or distance from the infrared heating system. When air temperature between night and dawn dropped sharply, plant temperatures were maintained close to the set temperature ($18^{\circ}C$). There was a significant difference between 'On' and 'Off' states of the infrared heating system in average temperatures of root zone and leaf: 21.8 and $17.8^{\circ}C$ with the system 'On' and 20.4 and $15.5^{\circ}C$ with the system 'Off', respectively, in a cut rose Rosa hybrida 'Yellow King'. The heating load was about $24,850{\sim}35,830kcal{\cdot}h^{-1}$, which comes to about 27,000~40,000 won in Korean currency when calculated in terms of the cost of heating by a hot water heating system heated by petroleum. The cost for heating by the infrared heating system was about 35% of that of a hot water heating system. With the infrared heating system, the air temperature during the night was maintained slightly lower than the set point air temperature, probably due to the lack of air tightness of the glasshouse. Therefore, glasshouses with an infrared heating system requires further investigation including the installation space of the heat-emitting units, temperature sensor positions, and convection.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.221-229
• /
• 2022

This study was aimed to investigate spatial and vertical characteristics of greenhouse environments according to the location of the environmental sensors, and to investigate the correlations between temperature, light intensity, and carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration according to the type of greenhouse. Temperature, relative humidity (RH), CO₂, and light sensors were installed in the four-different vertical positions of the whole canopy as well as ground and roof space at the five spatial locations of the Venlo greenhouse. Also, correlations between temperature, light intensity, and CO₂ concentration in Venlo and semi-closed greenhouses were analyzed using the Curve Expert Professional program. The deviations among the spatial locations were larger in the CO₂ concentration than other environmental factors in the Venlo greenhouse. The average CO₂ concentration ranged from 465 to 761 µmol·mol^-1 with the highest value (646 µmol·mol^-1) at the Middle End (4ME) close to the main pipe (50Ø) of the liquefied CO₂ gas supply and lowest (436 µmol·mol^-1) at the Left Middle (5LM). The deviation among the vertical positions was greater in temperature and relative humidity than other environments. The time zone with the largest deviation in average temperature was 2 p.m. with the highest temperature (26.51℃) at the Upper Air (UA) and the lowest temperature (25.62℃) at the Lower Canopy (LC). The time zone with the largest deviation in average RH was 1 p.m. with the highest RH (76.90%) at the LC and the lowest RH (71.74%) at the UA. The highest average CO₂ concentration at each hour was Roof Air (RF) and Ground (GD). The coefficient of correlations between temperature, light intensity, and CO₂ concentration were 0.07 for semi-closed greenhouse and 0.66 for Venlo greenhouse. All the results indicate that while the CO₂ concentration in the greenhouse needs to be analyzed in the spatial locations, temperature and humidity needs to be analyzed in the vertical positions of canopy. The target CO₂ fertilization concentration for the semi-closed greenhouse with low ventilation rate should be different from that of general greenhouses.