Available at www.sciencedirect.

com

INFORMATION PROCESSING IN AGRICULTURE xxx (xxxx) xxx

journal homepage: www.keaipublishing.com/en/journals/information-processing-in-agriculture/

Numerical investigation for effects of natural light

and ventilation on 3D tomato body heat distribution
in a Venlo greenhouse

Guanghui Yu a,b,c,d, Shanhong Zhang a,b,c,d, Shuai Li a,b,c,d, Minshu Zhang a,b,c,d,
Hüseyin Benli e, Yang Wang a,b,c,d,*
a
National Innovation Center for Digital Fishery, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
b
Laboratory of Smart Farming Technologies for Aquatic Animal and Livestock, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China Agricultural
University, 100083, Beijing, China
c
Engineering and Technology Research Center for Internet of Things in Agriculture, China Agricultural University, 100083, Beijing, China
d
College of Information and Electrical Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
e
Department of Technical and Vocational Education, Firat University, TR-23119 Elazig, Turkey for Huseyin Benli

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: Maintaining suitable temperature level around tomato in the greenhouse is essential for
Received 8 July 2021 the high-quality production. However, in summer, the temperature level around the
Received in revised form tomato is usually unclear except using a high-precision temperature imager. To solve this
29 April 2022 problem, thermal performance of 3D (three-dimensional) tomato model built based on
Accepted 23 May 2022 SolidWorks was investigated by the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. To
Available online xxxx assess the effect of temperature distribution around the tomato, a simplified 3D tomato
numerical model was firstly validated by a set of field measurement data. The light inten-
Keywords: sity and indoor ventilation were regarded as the mainly environment factors in the Venlo
CFD greenhouse, thermal stratification around tomatoes at different time of day was further
3D Tomato body studied. The numerical results illustrated the different temperature distribution around
Heat distribution tomato body under different radiation intensity. It was found that ventilation could obvi-
Greenhouse environment ously adjust the temperature gradient around the tomato, and alleviate high temperature
Growth condition effect particularly in summer. Suitable ventilation could create a suitable thermal environ-
ment for the tomato growth. This study clearly demonstrated 3D temperature distribution
around tomatoes, which is beneficial to provide the reference for accurate detection of 3D
tomato temperature and appropriate thermal environment design.
Ó 2022 China Agricultural University. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi
Communications Co. Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction

With the increasing global food and environmental issues,

greenhouse agriculture as an emerging technology that can
* Corresponding author.
enhance agricultural production efficiency, has attracted
E-mail address: andy_yangwang@cau.edu.cn (Y. Wang).
Peer review under responsibility of China Agricultural University. great attentions. Greenhouse agriculture has been regarded
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inpa.2022.05.006
2214-3173 Ó 2022 China Agricultural University. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co. Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Please cite this article as: G. Yu, S. Zhang, S. Li et al., Numerical investigation for effects of natural light and ventilation on 3D tomato body heat
distribution in a Venlo greenhouse, Information Processing in Agriculture, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inpa.2022.05.006
2 Information Processing in Agriculture
as an efficient agricultural planting mode to enhance crop
yield and quality. Consequently, in the recent decades,
researchers have investigated the design of ventilation sys-
tem and the indoor air temperature distribution to improve
the greenhouse construction structure continuously [1–4].
However, for previous studies, the ventilation effect and tem-
perature distribution of 2D model has been focused by lots of
researchers, while 3D simulation analysis of indoor heat and
airflow distribution at different times is rare.
The suitable temperature of the greenhouse environment
plays an important role in the growth of plants. When the
environmental temperature is higher than the optimum tem-
perature range for plant growth, the plant may undergo pro-
grammed cell death (PCD) and the release of cytochromes
[5]. In addition, the reproduction stage of plants is more likely
to be affected by high temperature than other growth stages
[6]. An increase in temperature will cause damage to the pol-
len tube and poor development of pollen, which will reduce
the fruit set rate and reduce crop yield [7]. High temperature
may also affect the photosynthesis of plants, change the flu-
idity of the membrane, and destroy the stability of the meta-
bolic mechanism [8]. Similarly, low temperature will reduce
plant biological enzyme activity and membrane fluidity, inhi-
bit the normal function of physiological processes, and cause
metabolic dysfunction [9]. Therefore, in an environment with
excessively high temperature, such as in many areas of
China, the temperature can reach 35 °C at noon in summer,
and mechanical ventilation or some other measures need to
be taken to maintain the thermal comfort of plants [1].
At present, mechanical ventilation has been widely used
to maintain the thermal comfort of plants [10,11]. However,
improper control of indoor ventilation speed can lead to
excessive indoor temperature and reduced fruit weight [12].
Air velocities between 0.5 and 0.7 m/s are recommended for
plant growth inside greenhouses [13]. When the ventilation
speed is lower than the recommended wind speed, it will
affect the circulation and mixing of indoor air, resulting in
increased indoor CO2 concentration and solar radiation heat.
Excessive accumulation around plants affects the photosyn-
thetic rate and yield of greenhouse crops [14]. When the ven-
tilation speed is higher than the recommended wind speed,
the ventilation system will consume more energy and
increase the cost of greenhouse crop production. Aiming at
the ventilation problem of the greenhouse, Zhang et al.
designed a perforated air pipe with three rows of air jets to
provide vertical airflow to the crop canopy surface and control
the airflow speed within a reasonable range [1].
In recent years, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has
been regarded as a powerful tool for studying airflow and heat
distribution inside greenhouses [15–17]. Compared with on-
site wind tunnel experiments, CFD has the advantages of
low cost and not limited by time and space [18–20]. Cheng
et al. studied the natural ventilation rates and airflow pat-
terns in multi-span greenhouses and glass greenhouses,
respectively. A good balance between airflow and wind speed
can be designed [21]. Benni et al. (2016) compared the roof
vent opening configurations by CFD simulations to optimize
ventilation in the Venlo greenhouse [22]. At the same time,
compared with the fixed measurement points in the field
experiment, the air distribution and heat distribution at any
Please cite this article as: G. Yu, S. Zhang, S. Li et al., Numerical investigation for effects of natural light and ventilation on 3D tomato body heat
distribution in a Venlo greenhouse, Information Processing in Agriculture, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inpa.2022.05.006
xxx (xxxx) xxx
spatial position inside the greenhouse can be simulated via
CFD. However, because CFD is simplified on the basis of nat-
ural environmental conditions, experimental verification is
required before the results are promoted to ensure the objec-
tivity of the simulation results.
In present, tomatoes were taken as 3D model in our exper-
imental Venlo greenhouse. K-Epsilon turbulence model and
discrete ordinates (DO) radiation model were adopted to ana-
lyze the temperature distribution at different cases in the
greenhouse, and the heat distribution on the 3D tomato sur-
face is obtained. In addition, the airflow velocity at different
heights in the greenhouse was discussed. The result showed
that proper ventilation could avoid the continuous accumula-
tion of heat on the plant surface and the heat distribution of
different parts of tomato in detail.
The innovation of this article is: 1) to investigate the
effects of ventilation speed at different heights on tomato
growth considering changes in solar radiation intensity and
environmental temperature via both on-site experiment and
CFD simulation; 2) the proposed model provides a theoretical
reference for improving detection accuracy. In the following
sections, a 3D model of tomato and a Venlo greenhouse will
be firstly introduced. Sequentially, heat transfer between
tomato plants and the ambient air will be presented. Follow-
ing that, mathematical modelling of air flow and solar radia-
tion in the greenhouse will be briefly stated, and the
corresponding computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program
will be validated by the on-site measurements. Subsequently,
the air flow distribution and heat distribution in the green-
house at different time are simulated by using the verified
numerical simulation program. 3D temperature pattern
results are helpful for growers to formulate better greenhouse
climate control strategies and more accurate temperature dis-
tribution in theory compared with thermal imager.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Mathematical modelling
The experimental greenhouse was employed to apply the
radiation and ventilation for the tomatoes. Meanwhile, the
air flow, heat transfer and temperature distribution could be
simulated employing computational fluid dynamic tech-
niques. Numerical model will be validated against a series
of experimental data.
2.1.1. Computational fluid dynamic modelling
The computational fluid dynamic modelling and codes repre-
sented by the set of differential equations, include continuity,
momentum, and energy equations, which can be found in
previous publications [23–25]. The general form of these con-
servative equations can be expressed as:


@ @ @u
ðquÞ ¼ Cu  quj u þ Su ð1Þ
@s @xj @xj
where u is a generic variable (unity for the continuity equa-
tion); q for the density; uj for the momentum equation; xj for
the direction on the x-axis; s for the energy equation and k,
e for the turbulence equations; Cu is the digression coefficient
and Su is the source term [26].
 Information Processing in Agriculture
2.1.2. Solar radiation model
Solar radiation is an important greenhouse environmental
factor that affects the temperature and humidity field distri-
bution in the greenhouse. The heat transfer process should
be considered in the simulation process [27,28]. In the present
study, DO radiation model is employed to simulate the effect
of solar radiation on greenhouse, and Solar Ray Tracing algo-
rithm is adopted to simulate solar ray. The standard K-Epsilon
turbulence model is adopted to account for the turbulent
buoyancy effects and near wall turbulence shear transitions.
The logarithmic law of the wall is adopted in the vicinity of
solid walls, and use the wall function to establish the full tur-
bulence and viscous flow along the wall surface. The DO radi-
ation model was calculated by the gray band model, which
can calculate gray body radiation and conduct non-gray body
calculation, so this radiation model was used to solve the
radiant heat transfer of the Venlo greenhouse. The DO radia-
tion model was added into the CFD model to simulate cou-
pling of convective transfers and radiation exchanges at the
roof and the cover of the ventilation greenhouse and instead
of the usual coupling approach based on energy balance. It
was used for the calculation of coupled radiation and convec-
tive exchanges at the ventilation greenhouse roof and cover.
For a medium with absorption, divergence, and scattering
properties.
The following radiative transfer equation is solved along
with other conservation equations [29], simultaneously and
the amount of absorbed solar irradiance has been added to
the energy equation through source term of Sh .
    
r  I !; ! ! þ ða þ rs ÞI !; !
r s s r s
 Z  
rT 4
rs 4p
¼ an2 þ I !; ! /ð!; !0 ÞdX0
p 4p 0 r s s s
!
In Eq. (2), !
r is position vector, !s is direction vector, s0 is
scattering direction vector, s is stroke length (m). I is the radi-
ation intensity (W/m2), which depends on the position and
direction; a and n are the absorption coefficient and refractive
index, and r is Stefan-Boltzmann constant [5.67e8 W/

(m2K4)], rs is scattering coefficient, T is average temperature
0
(°C), U is Phase function, and X is solid angle. Air-water vapor
enclosure is considered to be a nonparticipating medium in
the present modeling.
Apart from the contribution of solar radiation to the green-
house heat load, tomato plants also exchange energy with air
through sensible and latent heat, affecting the airflow distri-
bution. The leaf energy balance can be explained by the fol-
lowing equation:
 
Rnet ¼ 2hc D TLeaf  TAir þ Q lat ð3Þ
 
where Rnet is radiative net flux (W=m2 ); 2hc D TLeaf  TAir is the
sensible heat flux from leaves to air through heat convection
(W=m2 ); hc is the convective heat transfer coefficient
½W=ðm2  kÞ, which is equivalent to 5 ½W=ðm2  kÞ from the
canopy leaf to the air [30]; TLeaf is the temperature of leaves
of tomato plants and TAir is the temperature of the air around
 
the leaves; D TLeaf  TAir is the temperature difference
between air and leaf (K), subsequent field experiments mea-
sure that at 0:00, 4:00, 8:00, 12:00, 16:00, 20:00, the values are
Please cite this article as: G. Yu, S. Zhang, S. Li et al., Numerical investigation for effects of natural light and ventilation on 3D tomato body heat
distribution in a Venlo greenhouse, Information Processing in Agriculture, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inpa.2022.05.006
xxx (xxxx) xxx 3
4.1 K, 4.3 K,  1.3 K,  3.5 K,  1.6 K, 1.6 K. The value of sen-
sible heat flux can be inferred.
Q lat is the latent heat flux away from leaves through tran-
spiration (W=m2 ). At 0:00, 4:00, 8:00, 12:00, 16:00 and 20:00, the
value of Q lat is 36:84 W=m2 , 37:29 W=m2 , 15:05 W=m2 ,
25:28 W=m2 , 2:42 W=m2 and 15:42 W=m2 , respectively. Then
the value of Rnet can be calculated by Eq. (3).
2.2. 3D tomato model under greenhouse environment
Since the variety of exterior shapes of tomato, only with
dimensions of is simplified as unified 3D model. According
to the actual shape of the tomato in Fig. 1(b), we simplify
the stems, branches, and leaves into regular 3D models,
the 3D tomato plant model in the greenhouse is built by Solid-
Works in a ratio of 1:1, as shown in Fig. 1(b). It consists of 139
leaves and 16 branches, with a minimum of 8 leaves and a
maximum of 14 leaves on each branch, and a height of
0.2 m, most lobular area of 0.12 cm2, maximum leaf area of
0.8 cm2, maximum stem length 98.62 mm, diameter
1.8 mm. The minimum stem length is 25.80 mm and the
diameter is 0.7 mm. Stem distance distribution: according to
the actual principle of random distribution of tomatoes.
Tomato plants are placed in a small experimental green-
house providing light and ventilation, the measurement
greenhouse was performed in summer located in, Beijing,
China. The volume of the greenhouse is 1 m (length)  0.6 m
(width)  0.5 m (height), which is built from acrylic plate with
built-in culture tank, as shown in Fig. 1(a) and (c). The tank
can totally accommodate 12 tomatoes, they are distributed
in 2 Lines and 6 Rows. To improve the uniformity of inlet air-
ð2Þ flow the same inside climate as the Venlo greenhouse, three
external windows were built on the symmetric wall. The roof
of greenhouse consists of the ten V-shaped acrylic panels. On
the front and the back walls, there are four windows sizing of
0.08 m  0.06 m as a fresh air inlet. The ventilation system
composes of mechanical ventilation and natural ventilation.
2.3. CFD model details and setting condition
SolidWorks is adopted to create a three-dimensional calcula-
tion model of the greenhouse, with the size of 1 m
(length)  0.6 m (width)  0.5 m (height). Tomatoes, air intents
and vents are designed to provide the same conditions as the
actual greenhouse climate according to the requirements of
the environment around the tomato in the Venlo greenhouse.
Meanwhile, for the CFD model, the grids constructed in this
study are about 20 274 710, including 3 403 693 nodes, with
an average gradient of 0.842 35 and a minimum cell size of
0.008 99 mm. At the same time, a more refined grid is auto-
matically applied near tomatoes and vents, and the average
skewness (0.2 ± 0.1) is adopted to test the grid quality before
calculation, which improves the stability and precision of
numerical calculation.
Table 1 shows the model settings, boundary conditions
and numerical parameters of the three-dimensional CFD
model. Velocity-Inlet and pressure-outlet are adopted to set
the boundary conditions for numerical solution, and
employed the DO radiation model and solar ray tracking,
4 Information Processing in Agriculture
(a) Experimental Venlo greenhouse in Beijing, China
(b) A simplified 3D model of tomato plant
(c) 3D Model of Venlo greenhouse with tomatoes
Fig. 1 – Illustration of experimental Venlo greenhouse (a), 3D
tomato model (b) and the geometry of the modeled
greenhouse with 3D (c), where the symbol tomato 2.1
represents that the plant is planted at line 2 and row 2.
and set the geographical latitude and longitude (39.9°N, 116.3°
E) to be consistent with the actual position of the greenhouse.
The initial temperature is 295.2 K (0:00), 293.757 K (4:00),
299.945 K (8:00), 308.695 K (12:00), 306.201 K (16:00),
300.636 K (20:00). Table 2 summarizes the thermal properties
of air, tomato crops, plastic husks, and soil. Because the heat
Please cite this article as: G. Yu, S. Zhang, S. Li et al., Numerical investigation for effects of natural light and ventilation on 3D tomato body heat
distribution in a Venlo greenhouse, Information Processing in Agriculture, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inpa.2022.05.006
xxx (xxxx) xxx
generated by photosynthesis and respiration of plants is less
affected by environmental temperature changes, the effects
of photosynthesis and transpiration of tomato are ignored.
The steady state solution of the CFD model is carried out,
and the least square method is adopted to solve the gradient
term. The pressure item is selected based on the weight of the
object, the energy is the second-order upwind type, and the
rest are the first-order upwind type. Coupled algorithm is
adopted to improve the calculation accuracy. The conver-
gence factor of the energy residual is set at 10e6 , and the rest
is set at 10e3 to judge whether the calculation meets the con-
vergence standard.
Previous studies have shown that the airflow inside the
greenhouse have a highly turbulent flow state [31]. In order
to simplify the calculation of the greenhouse wall area, the
standard K-Epsilon turbulence model is adopted to describe
the flow state of indoor gas in the turbulence model. Fluent
could provide Rosseland, P1, Discrete Transfer, Surface to Sur-
face, Discrete Ordinates. In order to simulate the influence of
greenhouse covering materials on indoor solar radiation dis-
tribution and solve the radiation transfer problem of translu-
cent medium, DO radiation model is adopted to describe the
thermal effect of solar radiation. Considering the selectivity
of greenhouse covering materials to solar radiation, Solar
Ray Tracing is used to describe the absorption characteristics
of the materials.
2.4. CFD simulation results validated by on-site
measurements
The wind speed and temperature verification experiment are
carried out in a greenhouse model in China Agricultural
University, Beijing, China (39.9°N, 116.3°E). Fans of the same
brand are placed at the four windows (0.06 m  0.08 m) of
the front wall of the greenhouse as the air supply source. Four
windows (0.06 m  0.08 m) on the back wall of the greenhouse
are used as air outlets. The air flow can enter the greenhouse
from the front wall vent and be discharged from the back wall
vent to meet the needs of photosynthesis and other physio-
logical activities of plants.
Testo 435–1 wind speed sensor (Fig. 2 (a)) (diameter of the
impeller wind speed probe is 60 mm, accuracy: ± (0.1 m/s + 1.
5% measured value), measuring range: 0.25–20 m/s, working
temperature: 0–60 °C) is used to measure and the wind speeds
at the forward air inlets are adjusted to 1.2 m/s. Testo 435–1
illumination probe sensor (Fig. 2(a) right) (measuring range:
0–100 000 Lux, accuracy: ± 1.1% of reading) is used to measure
light intensity inside the greenhouse.
The spatial distribution of tomato plants in greenhouse is
shown in Fig. 2 (b) and (c). In order to verify the regularity of
wind speed in greenhouse ventilation, the wind speed at dif-
ferent locations in the greenhouse is measured. Twelve mea-
suring points is set up. The selection of measuring points is
shown in Fig. 2 (d) and (e).
Testo 435-1 temperature sensor (Fig. 2 (a)) (accuracy: ± 0.2 °
C, measuring range: –20 to +70 °C, probe rod diameter: 12 mm,
probe sleeve length: 140 mm, length of the cable: 1160 mm) is
adopted to measure the temperature at different heights
inside the greenhouse. The measurement point is set every
 Information Processing in Agriculture xxx (xxxx) xxx 5

Table 1 – Settings of simulation condition.

Settings of model Settings of material
Model parameters Setting Fluid Solid

Energy On air Crop

Viscous k-e standard – Glass
Radiation DO – Soil
Solar load Solar Ray Tracing – –

Table 2 – Physical parameters of materials.

Material Density (kg=m3 ) Cp [J=ðkg  KÞ] Thermal Conductivity [W=ðm  K)] Refractive Index Absorption Coefficient

Air 1.225 1 006 0.02 1.00 0.15

Plant 560 2 100 0.19 2.77 0.35
Plastic 2 220 830 1.38 1.50 0.08
Soil 1 700 1 010 0.8 1.92 0.50

4 cm, with six measurement points. The selection of measur-
ing points is indicated in Fig. 2 (g).
It can be seen from Fig. 2 (f) that the wind speed around
the tomato plants is highly correlated with the distance and
angle of the vent, and the CFD simulation results are consis-
tent with the measurement results of the same spatial posi-
tion in the greenhouse. The standard deviation between the
calculated results and the measured data is within 0.055 m/s.
Similarly, it can be seen from Fig. 2 (h) that the CFD simu-
lation data are consistent with the measurement results of
the same height in the greenhouse. The standard deviation
between the calculated results and the measured data is
within 0.069 K, which ensures the reliability of the calculation
program.
surement inside the greenhouse (Fig. 3) also reaches the max-
imum 35.545 °C at the same time. Fresh air entraining from
the small window flows into the greenhouse, and it is main-
tained at Nsupply (supply air velocity) = 0.5 m/s and Tsupply
(supply air temperature) = 35.545 °C. Subsequently, this venti-
lation mode was applied to establish a stable greenhouse heat
distribution model.
As shown in Fig. 4(a), the temperature near the soil and
above the canopy of tomato affected by hot air and solar radi-
ation is higher (about 35 °C), and the average temperature
around the tomato is close to 30 °C. The results show that
the solar radiation at 12o ’clock in the day causes significant
vertical thermal stratification around the tomato, and the
heat distribution in the greenhouse is uniform. Maintain Nsup-
ply (air supply speed) = 0.5 m/s and carry out the same study at

3. Results and discussions
Suitable mechanical ventilation in summer can alleviate the
effect of high temperature and create a suitable environment
for the growth of tomato. It also ensures the supply of air and
temperature necessary for photosynthesis and respiration of
tomatoes.
Firstly, based on the 3D model, the variation of tomato sur-
face temperature with time (0:00 4:00 8:00 12:00 16:00 20:00) is
discussed. Then, the influence of the horizontal distance
(x = 2 cm, x = 4 cm, x = 6 cm) on the thermal effect of the sur-
rounding environment is revealed. Finally, the airflow distri-
bution around tomato is demonstrated under ventilation
condition.
3.1. Effect of solar radiation on 3D tomato microclimate in
greenhouse
In previous studies, some researchers focused on crop tran-
spiration rate and maximal indoor air temperature for green-
house microclimate. For example, Illouz-Eliaz et al. found
that the maximum transpiration rate of tomato appeared at
12:00 [26], similarly, the observation data of our on-site mea-
0:00 (as shown in Fig. 4(b)). At this time, the indoor and out-
door heat exchange mainly depends on the flow of air. The
heat generated by physiological activities of tomato is trans-
ferred through airflow to realize continuous exchange with
the outside environment. The temperature is between 20 °C
and 22 °C.
3.2. Analysis of relationship between the tomato surface
temperature and microclimate
Solar radiation will affect the heat transfer process inside and
outside the greenhouse. Except for the change of time, the
above control parameters and boundary conditions are still
adopted, while the air supply remains at Nsupply (supply air
velocity) = 0.5 m/s.
In Fig. 5, shown the average temperature of 3D tomato
leaves. As the solar radiation and transpiration rate increase,
the temperature difference around the tomato increases. 3D
tomato simulation results showing: The temperature of the
tomato itself will also increase as the surrounding tempera-
ture increases, meantime the curve in the picture shows that
the change of tomato surface temperature is basically consis-
tent with the periodic change of solar radiation. The temper-

Please cite this article as: G. Yu, S. Zhang, S. Li et al., Numerical investigation for effects of natural light and ventilation on 3D tomato body heat
distribution in a Venlo greenhouse, Information Processing in Agriculture, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inpa.2022.05.006
6 Information Processing in Agriculture xxx (xxxx) xxx

(d) Front view of measuring points

(a) Temperature (left) and wind speed (middle)

as well as illustration (right) sensors

(e) Top view of measuring points

(b) Front view of Venlo greenhouse

(f) Comparison of the results ofwind velocity between

CFD simulation results and measurementdata
Fig 2. (continued)

(c) Top view of Venlo greenhouse
Fig. 2 – Spatial distribution of tomato plants and measuring
points in greenhouse.
ature fluctuation of the tomato body and the temperature of
the leaf surface will also have a more obvious impact with
the variety of the radiation intensity.
Meantime, simulation results show that the temperature
difference in the vertical direction of the tomato body is large,
especially in summer. Especially, the maximum temperature
difference between root and canopy is about 4 K at 12:00
(x = 2 cm). In Fig. 6(a), Fig.(b) and Fig.(c), with the increase of
the horizontal distance from the tomato (x = 4 cm, x
= 6 cm), the thermal influence of the tomato on the surround-
ing environment weakens, and the temperature difference
between the tomato canopy and the root decreases by 50%
(about 2 K) at 12:00 noon (x = 6 cm). The same rule can be
found in Fig. 6(b) and (c).
Similarly, there is the horizontal distance between the
measuring point at night and the tomato. We selected three
points (x = 2 cm, 4 cm, 6 cm) as the research object, showing
the heat distribution of the tomato at different times at night.
According to 3D simulation results, at 4o’clock in the morning
(x = 2 cm), the maximum temperature difference between
root and canopy is about 3.5 K. With the increase of the hor-
izontal distance from the tomato (x = 4 cm, x = 6 cm), the
thermal impact of the tomato on the surrounding environ-

Please cite this article as: G. Yu, S. Zhang, S. Li et al., Numerical investigation for effects of natural light and ventilation on 3D tomato body heat
distribution in a Venlo greenhouse, Information Processing in Agriculture, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inpa.2022.05.006
 Information Processing in Agriculture
Fig. 3 – Temperature distribution in greenhouse on July 20,
2020.
(a) 12:00 at noon around tomato 2.1
(b) 0:00 at night around tomato 2.1
Fig. 4 – Temperature distribution illustration in greenhouse.
ment weakened. At 4 am in the morning (x = 4 cm), the tem-
perature difference between the canopy and root system of
tomato is about 2.5 K, and at 4o’clock in the morning
(x = 6 cm), the temperature difference between the canopy
and root system of tomato is about 2.5 K. The heat distribu-
tion law around tomatoes during the day and night shows
that the thermal effect of tomatoes on the surrounding envi-
Please cite this article as: G. Yu, S. Zhang, S. Li et al., Numerical investigation for effects of natural light and ventilation on 3D tomato body heat
distribution in a Venlo greenhouse, Information Processing in Agriculture, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inpa.2022.05.006
xxx (xxxx) xxx 7
Fig. 5 – Average temperature of tomato leaves.
ronment decreases with the increase of the horizontal dis-
tance (see Fig. 7).
3.3. Temperature distribution and microclimate analysis
around tomato body
It could be demonstrated from Fig. 8 that at 8 am, due to the
low solar radiation intensity, most of the radiation is absorbed
by the tomato canopy, and obvious vertical temperature strat-
ification is formed around the tomato. The temperature dif-
ference between tomato canopy and root system is 1.8 K. At
noon, solar radiation reaches its maximum value (approxi-
mately 17.34 MJ/m2), and tomato has strong transpiration
and heat exchange. The abovementioned results are identical
to previous study, e.g., the tomato transpiration rate is the lar-
gest at noon, which is consistent with previous studies [26].
At night, the heating effect of tomatoes is subtle. Convection
is formed between the ground and the air, and heat is dissi-
pated from the ground into the air, forming obvious vertical
temperature stratification. Due to the respiration of the
tomato itself, the temperature of the tomato is higher than
the ambient temperature at this time, which is the opposite
of the situation during the day (see Fig. 9).
3.4. 3D tomato plant growth under ventilation
The airflow sinks towards the soil under the effect of negative
buoyancy, while the airflow rises around the canopy due to
the effect of positive buoyancy. Therefore, the densest point
of the airflow occurs slightly above the tomato canopy (H 
11 cm), and the average wind speed value is 0.28 m/s, while
the average wind speed value at the bottom of the tomato is
only 0.12 m/s, which easily leads to the aggregation of patho-
gen microorganisms. In conclusion, due to the existence of
tomato canopy, different airflow layers will be formed in the
greenhouse, which interact with each other to form complex
airflow circulation in the greenhouse.
Physically, airflows are subject to different flow forces,
including natural ventilation and thermal plume forces. The
8 Information Processing in Agriculture xxx (xxxx) xxx

(a) 8:00 in the morning around tomato 2.1 (a) 20:00 at night around tomato 2.1

(b) 12:00 at noon around tomato 2.1 (b) 0:00 at night around tomato 2.1

(c) 16:00 in the afternoon around tomato 2.1 (c) 4:00 at night around tomato 2.1
Fig. 6 – Illustration of heat distribution around tomato plants Fig. 7 – Illustration of heat distribution around tomato plants
during the day. at night.

Please cite this article as: G. Yu, S. Zhang, S. Li et al., Numerical investigation for effects of natural light and ventilation on 3D tomato body heat
distribution in a Venlo greenhouse, Information Processing in Agriculture, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inpa.2022.05.006
 Information Processing in Agriculture xxx (xxxx) xxx 9

Fig. 8 – Temperature of tomato body (2.1) at 8:00, 12:00, 16:00, 20:00, 0:00, 4:00.

removal of greenhouse pollutants such as oxides of nitrogen

and phosphorus, bacteria [32], which can easily lead to poor
air quality, leading to disease. Therefore, the distance
between tomatoes should be expanded to reduce interference
and create a suitable breathing environment.

3.5. Discussions

In order to study the temperature distribution of tomato sur-

Fig. 9 – Wind velocity around the tomato as function of
height.
supply jet will sink, while the air flow around the canopy will
rise due to the positive buoyancy. These flows interact with
each other, resulting in a complex flow cycle, as shown in
Fig. 10. The air microcirculation around tomato prevents the
face and surrounding environment in summer, SolidWorks is
used to build the 3D model of tomato. Compared with the
detailed tomato model established by Zhang Yue and others
using the open source modeling platform Groimp [29], this
model considers that all parts of tomato have the same ther-
modynamic characteristics and radiation characteristics. Due
to the different effects of solar radiation on stems and leaves,
the model inadequately reflects the differences of thermal
characteristics of tomato stems and leaves. At the same time,
this model simplifies the effects of photosynthesis and respi-
ration of tomato, through the establishment of latent heat
and sensible heat mathematical model, thermal characteris-
tics of tomato are fully revealed, so these simplifications are
acceptable.
The detailed distribution of microclimate parameters
including tomato canopy temperature in the greenhouse

Please cite this article as: G. Yu, S. Zhang, S. Li et al., Numerical investigation for effects of natural light and ventilation on 3D tomato body heat
distribution in a Venlo greenhouse, Information Processing in Agriculture, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inpa.2022.05.006
10 Information Processing in Agriculture
Fig. 10 – Illustration of distribution of air flow plants in greenhouse.
plays an important role in the appropriate cultivation of
tomato and increasing yield. In this paper, the 3D model of
tomato is only modified on some branches and leaves. Com-
pared with the previous 2D model studies, the spatial accu-
racy has been expectedly improved. The conclusion shows
that the model can reflect the temperature distribution
around tomato and the temperature distribution of tomato
canopy, which provides a reference for the reasonable ventila-
tion and energy consumption reduction of tomato
greenhouse.
In previous studies, for simulating the greenhouse crops, it
was generally regarded as a multi empty medium to simulate,
and both the results of simulation and experiment data are in
good agreement. However, in the present work, the tomato
was regarded as a solid, and the relevant parameters of por-
ous media are not set, which could also demonstrate a good
consistency in the case of refining 3D model, which will be
discussed in the future research section.
4. Conclusions
In summer, suitable mechanical ventilation could alleviate
the effect of high temperature and create a suitable environ-
ment for the growth of tomato.
In this paper, effects of different supply air temperature
and radiation intensity on greenhouse ventilation and tomato
thermal stratification have been numerically and experimen-
tally investigated in an experimental Venlo greenhouse, the
temperature distribution and ventilation effect were then
analyzed. The proposed CFD model and numerical results
were validated by the field measurement results. The main
scientific and valuable conclusions are as follows:
(1) At 12:00 pm, the transpiration rate of tomato reaches
the maximum, which results in a temperature differ-
ence of about 5 K between the canopy and the soil.
The solar radiation at this time will lead to significant
vertical thermal stratification, and establishes a uni-
form heat distribution inside the greenhouse. At
Please cite this article as: G. Yu, S. Zhang, S. Li et al., Numerical investigation for effects of natural light and ventilation on 3D tomato body heat
distribution in a Venlo greenhouse, Information Processing in Agriculture, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inpa.2022.05.006
xxx (xxxx) xxx
8 pm, the heat generated by the transpiration of tomato
plants inside the greenhouse is passively conveyed by
the external airflow, and heat in the greenhouse is dis-
sipated by ventilation. The air temperature at this time
is between 20 °C and 22 °C. The results indicate that the
heat distribution around the tomato presents a signifi-
cant periodic change caused by the solar radiation in
summer. Around noon, the surface temperature of
tomato plant is too high, which is prone to high temper-
ature lesions. It is necessary to conduct mechanical
ventilation in advance.
(2) The distribution of heat around tomatoes during the
day and night indicates that the thermal effect of toma-
toes on the surrounding environment decreases signif-
icantly with the increase of horizontal distance.
Therefore, it is difficult to obtain an accurate heat dis-
tribution around the tomato. This study obtains the
peripheral temperature of tomato based on the theory
of thermodynamics, which provides a theoretical refer-
ence for improving the detection accuracy.
(3) Under ventilated conditions, there will be obvious dif-
ferences in airflow on both sides of the tomato canopy.
Pathogenic microorganisms are likely to accumulate at
the bottom to produce disease. The airflow microcircu-
lation around the tomato will hinder the removal of
greenhouse pollutants. Therefore, the study of the 3D
model can provide guidance for reasonable ventilation.
This research could provide theoretical guidance for
improving the detection accuracy of thermal imagers, and
assist with designing suitable thermal environment for
tomato plant growth.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
 Information Processing in Agriculture xxx (xxxx) xxx 11

Acknowledgements Greenhouse Based on Instantaneous Leaf Temperature

Measurements. Agronomy 2020;1210:1985. https://doi.org/
10.3390/agronomy10121985.
This research was financially supported by Science and Tech-
[12] Sherzod R, Yang EY, Cho MC, Chae SY, Chae WB. Physiological
nology Cooperation – Sino-Malta Fund 2019: Research and
traits associated with high temperature tolerance differ by
Demonstration of Real-time Accurate Monitoring System for fruit types and sizes in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.).
Early-stage Fish in Recirculating Aquaculture System Horticult, Environ, Biotechnol 2020;561:837–47. https://doi.
(AquaDetector, Grant No. 2019YFE0103700), Overseas High- org/10.1007/s13580-020-00280-4.
level Youth Talents Program (China Agricultural University, [13] Pakari A, Ghani S. Airflow assessment in a naturally
China, Grant No. 62339001), China Agricultural University ventilated greenhouse equipped with wind towers:
numerical simulation and wind tunnel experiments. Energy
Excellent Talents Plan (Grant No. 31051015), Major Science
Build 2019;199:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
and Technology Innovation Fund 2019 of Shandong Province enbuild.2019.06.033.
(Grant No. 2019JZZY010703), National Innovation Center for [14] Ould Khaoua SA, Bournet PE, Migeon C, Boulard T,
Digital Fishery, and Beijing Engineering and Technology Chassériaux G. Analysis of Greenhouse Ventilation Efficiency
Research Center for Internet of Things in Agriculture. The based on Computational Fluid Dynamics. Biosyst Eng
authors also appreciate constructive and valuable comments 2006;195:83–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
biosystemseng.2006.05.004.
provided by reviewers.
[15] Odhiambo MRO, Abbas A, Wang X, Elahi E. Thermo-
Environmental Assessment of a Heated Venlo-Type
Greenhouse in the Yangtze River Delta Region. Sustain-Basel
R E F E R E N C E S 2020;2412:10412. https://doi.org/10.3390/su122410412.
[16] Aguilar-Rodriguez CE, Flores-Velazquez J, Ojeda-Bustamante
W, Rojano F, Iñiguez-Covarrubias M. Valuation of the Energy
Performance of a Greenhouse with an Electric Heater Using
[1] Zhang Y, Kacira M, An L. A CFD study on improving air flow
Numerical Simulations. Processes 2020;58:600. https://doi.
uniformity in indoor plant factory system. Biosyst Eng
org/10.3390/pr8050600.
2016;147:193–205.
[17] Liu X, Li H, Li Y, Yue X, Tian S, Li T. Effect of internal surface
[2] Boulard T, Roy J-C, Pouillard J-B, Fatnassi H, Grisey A.
structure of the north wall on Chinese solar greenhouse
Modelling of micrometeorology, canopy transpiration and
thermal microclimate based on computational fluid
photosynthesis in a closed greenhouse using computational
dynamics. PLoS One 2020;415:e231316. https://doi.org/
fluid dynamics. Biosyst Eng 2017;158:110–33.
10.1371/journal.pone.0231316.
[3] Endalew AM, Hertog M, Gebrehiwot MG, Baelmans M, Ramon
[18] Schymanski SJ, Or D. Wind effects on leaf transpiration
H, Nicolaı̈ BM, et al. Modelling airflow within model plant
challenge the concept of "potential evaporation&quot.
canopies using an integrated approach. Comput Electron
Proc Int Assoc Hydrol Sci 2015;371:99–107. https://doi.org/
Agric 2009;66(1):9–24.
10.5194/piahs-371-99-2015.
[4] Kichah A, Bournet P-E, Migeon C, Boulard T. Measurement
[19] Zhao F, Liu D, Tang G. Multiple steady fluid flows in a slot-
and CFD simulation of microclimate characteristics and
ventilated enclosure. Int J Heat Fluid Fl 2008;529:1295–308.
transpiration of an Impatiens pot plant crop in a greenhouse.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatfluidflow.2008.06.005.
Biosyst Eng 2012;112(1):22–34.
[20] Liu D, Zhao F, Wang H, Rank E. Turbulent transport of
[5] Qu G-Q, Liu X, Zhang Y-L, Yao D, Ma Q-M, Yang M-Y, et al.
airborne pollutants in a residential room with a novel air
Evidence for programmed cell death and activation of
conditioning unit. Int J Refrig 2012;535:1455–72. https://doi.
specific caspase-like enzymes in the tomato fruit heat stress
org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2012.04.011.
response. Planta 2009;229(6):1269–79.
[21] Zhao F, Liu D, Tang G. Application issues of the streamline,
[6] Ruan Y-L, Jin Ye, Yang Y-J, Li G-J, Boyer JS. Sugar Input,
heatline and massline for conjugate heat and mass transfer.
Metabolism, and Signaling Mediated by Invertase: Roles in
Int J Heat Mass Trans 2007;1–250:320–34. https://doi.org/
Development, Yield Potential, and Response to Drought and
10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2006.06.026.
Heat. Mol Plant 2010;3(6):942–55.
[22] Keshtkar M, Eslami M, Jafarpur K. A novel procedure for
[7] Raja MM, Vijayalakshmi G, Naik ML, Basha PO, Sergeant K,
transient CFD modeling of basin solar stills: Coupling of
Hausman JF, et al. Pollen development and function under
species and energy equations. Desalination 2020;481:114350.
heat stress: from effects to responses. Acta Physiol Plant
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2020.114350.
2019;41(4). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-019-2835-8.
[23] Fang H, Li K, Wu G, Cheng R, Zhang Y, Yang Q. A CFD analysis
[8] Larkindale J, Hall JD, Knight MR, Vierling E. Heat stress
on improving lettuce canopy airflow distribution in a plant
phenotypes of arabidopsis mutants implicate multiple
factory considering the crop resistance and LEDs heat
signaling pathways in the acquisition of thermotolerance.
dissipation. Biosyst Eng 2020;200:1–12. https://doi.org/
Plant Physiol 2005;2138:882–97. https://doi.org/10.1104/
10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2020.08.017.
pp.105.062257.
[24] Yanhua L, Zhixiong Z, Jiaming G, Enli L, Qinglin M. Numerical
[9] Xu W, Li R, Zhang N, Ma F, Jiao Y, Wang Z. Transcriptome
simulation and experimental verification of effect of CO2
profiling of Vitis amurensis, an extremely cold-tolerant
enrichment on flow field of greenhouse. Trans Chin Soc Agric
Chinese wild Vitis species, reveals candidate genes and
Eng 2015;1231:194–9.
events that potentially connected to cold stress. Plant Mol
[25] Kimura K et al. Leaf boundary layer conductance in a tomato
Biol 2014;86(4-5):527–41.
canopy under the convective effect of circulating fans in a
[10] Han F, Chen C, Hu Q, He Y, Wei S, Li C. Modeling method of an
greenhouse heated by an air duct heater. Environ Control Biol
active–passive ventilation wall with latent heat storage for
2016;454:171–6. https://doi.org/10.2525/ecb.54.171.
evaluating its thermal properties in the solar greenhouse.
[26] Illouz-Eliaz N, Nissan I, Nir I, Ramon U, Shohat H, Weiss D.
Energy Build 2021;238:110840. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
Mutations in the tomato gibberellin receptors suppress
enbuild.2021.110840.
xylem proliferation and reduce water loss under water-deficit
[11] Nikolaou G, Neocleous D, Kitta E, Katsoulas N. Estimation of
Aerodynamic and Canopy Resistances in a Mediterranean

Please cite this article as: G. Yu, S. Zhang, S. Li et al., Numerical investigation for effects of natural light and ventilation on 3D tomato body heat
distribution in a Venlo greenhouse, Information Processing in Agriculture, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inpa.2022.05.006
12 Information Processing in Agriculture xxx (xxxx) xxx

conditions. J Exp Bot 2020;1271:3603–12. https://doi.org/
10.1093/jxb/eraa137.
[27] Nebbali R, Roy JC, Boulard T. Dynamic simulation of the
distributed radiative and convective climate within a cropped
greenhouse. Renew Energy 2012;43:111–29. https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.renene.2011.12.003.
[28] Benni S, Tassinari P, Bonora F, Barbaresi A, Torreggiani D.
Efficacy of greenhouse natural ventilation: Environmental
monitoring and CFD simulations of a study case. Energ Build
2016;125:276–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
enbuild.2016.05.014.
[29] Zhang Y et al. High resolution 3D simulation of light climate
and thermal performance of a solar greenhouse model under
tomato canopy structure. Renew Energy 2020;160:730–45.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2020.06.144.
[30] Yin G et al. N2O and CO2 emissions, nitrogen use efficiency
under biogas slurry irrigation: A field study of two
consecutive wheat-maize rotation cycles in the North China
Plain. Agric Water Manage 2019;212:232–40. https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.agwat.2018.08.038.
[31] Teitel M, Wenger E. Air exchange and ventilation efficiencies
of a monospan greenhouse with one inflow and one outflow
through longitudinal side openings. Biosyst Eng
2014;119:98–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
biosystemseng.2013.11.001.
[32] He X et al. Ventilation optimization of solar greenhouse with
removable back walls based on CFD. Comput Electron Agric
2018;149:16–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2017.10.001.

Please cite this article as: G. Yu, S. Zhang, S. Li et al., Numerical investigation for effects of natural light and ventilation on 3D tomato body heat
distribution in a Venlo greenhouse, Information Processing in Agriculture, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inpa.2022.05.006