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Soil Heat Flow under an Orchard Heater
Author(s) -
Fritton D. D.,
Martsolf J. D.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1980.03615995004400010003x
Subject(s) - heat flux , flux (metallurgy) , radius , soil thermal properties , thermocouple , heat flow , orchard , soil water , energy flux , environmental science , materials science , heat transfer , soil science , thermal , mechanics , composite material , meteorology , field capacity , physics , biology , computer security , astronomy , computer science , horticulture , metallurgy
Soil heat flux measurements were made under and near an auto clean stack orchard heater to estimate the amount of energy being lost. Heat flux plates were buried at the 5‐cm depth at 0, 50, and 100 cm from the heater center. The heat flux plate measurements were corrected for heat stored in the upper 5‐cm of soil using temperatures measured by four thermocouples in series at depths of 0.0, 2.5, 5.0, 9.0, and 27.0 cm at each location and for water content and bulk density data. The resulting surface heat flux data were spatially averaged over a 100‐cm radius circle around the heater. Soil surface temperatures under the heater fluctuated between 232° and 288°C during the heating interval. Soil temperatures at depths > 2.5 cm under the heater did not exceed 75°C. Surface soil temperatures at the 50‐ and 100‐cm distances from the heater center rose from 4.4° and 4.5°C to 18.5° and 8.3°C, respectively. The spatial average soil heat flux increased rapidly to 82 mW/cm 2 and then rapidly decreased and fluctuated around 13 mW/cm 2 for the majority of the 39‐min heating interval. This energy represents 2% of the total energy portion of the heater output. It was concluded that the energy absorbed by the soil was not effective in frost protection and should be conserved.