Open AccessNonlinear growth dynamics of date palms responding to environmental parameters
Author(s) -
Eileen Joan Magero,
Koichi Unami,
O. Mohawesh,
M Yamaguchi,
Masayuki Fujihara
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
food research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.218
H-Index - 7
ISSN - 2550-2166
DOI - 10.26656/fr.2017.4(s6).009
Subject(s) - environmental science , water potential , palm , hydrology (agriculture) , soil water , soil science , mathematics , engineering , geotechnical engineering , physics , quantum mechanics
Scientific analysis of plant growth helps in improving the efficiency of cultivationpractices through optimization of their environmental conditions. The ultimate aim of thisresearch was to derive an optimal policy for better growth of date palms by considering itsdynamical response to environmental parameters such as solar radiation, soil moisture,and temperature. Field experiments were conducted at an irrigation scheme located in theJordan Rift Valley. A drip irrigation system is installed to water ten trees of date palmseither with fresh or saline water depending on the soil matric potential. The circumferenceof the trunk of a tree was measured using a dendrometer at 30 mins interval and recordedin a data logger. Environmental parameters including the soil matric potential, solarradiation, and soil temperature were also logged every 30 mins. This study focused ondetermining a nonlinear model representing the growth dynamics of the date palm treeresponding to those environmental parameters. The linear regression was applied toestimate the kernel coefficients of discrete Volterra series modeling the time series. Thenon-linearity of the model is expected to explain diurnal shrinkage and swelling of the treetrunk under different environmental conditions.