Smart greenhouses as the path towards precision agriculture in the food-energy and water nexus: case study of Qatar

Greenhouse farming is essential in increasing domestic crop production in countries with limited resources and a harsh climate like Qatar. Smart greenhouse development is even more important to overcome these limitations and achieve high levels of food security. While the main aim of greenhouses is to offer an appropriate environment for high-yield production while protecting crops from adverse climate conditions, smart greenhouses provide precise regulation and control of the microclimate variables by utilizing the latest control techniques, advanced metering and communication infrastructures, and smart management systems thus providing the optimal environment for crop development. However, due to the development of information technology, greenhouses are undergoing a big transformation. In fact, the new generation of greenhouses has gone from simple constructions to sophisticated factories that drive agricultural production at the minimum possible cost. The main objective of this paper is to present a comprehensive understanding framework of the actual greenhouse development in Qatar, so as to be able to support the transition to sustainable precision agriculture. Qatar’s greenhouse market is a dynamic sector, and it is expected to mark double-digit growth by 2025. Thus, this study may offer effective supporting information to decision and policy makers, professionals, and end-users in introducing new technologies and taking advantage of monitoring techniques, artificial intelligence, and communication infrastructure in the agriculture sector by adopting smart greenhouses, consequently enhancing the Food-Energy-Water Nexus resilience and sustainable development. Furthermore, an analysis of the actual agriculture situation in Qatar is provided by examining its potential development regarding the existing drivers and barriers. Finally, the study presents the policy measures already implemented in Qatar and analyses the future development of the local greenhouse sector in terms of sustainability and resource-saving perspective and its penetration into Qatar’s economy.Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library. The authors are grateful to Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) for funding and supporting the M-NEX Project (Grant No. BFSUGI01-1120-170005) in Qatar. The M-NEX is a project of the Collaborative Research Area Belmont Forum (Grant No. 11314551)

Determination of Low-Cost Arduino Based Light Intensity Sensors Effectiveness for Agricultural Applications

This research is aimed to explore the efficacy and comparison of low-cost light sensor measurements for agricultural applications. For this reason, TSL2561, BH1750, and TEMT6000, low-cost light sensors have been used with various lighting regimes. Consequently, their efficiency has been tested for agricultural applications. These types of low-cost light sensors can be used in a range of applications in agriculture. For this reason, it is necessary to evaluate the calculation of light sources. The light calculation values of low-cost light sensors were statistically compared. Calibration results were also analyzed, so the reliability of low-cost light sensors was detected. Statistical analyses of light values have been presented in the results and discussion part of the paper as; the regression coefficient based on UNI-T UT382 vs. TSL2561 for the calibration was found as R-Sq 99,6%, R-Sq(adj) 99,5%, and S 10,18; for the calibration of UNI-T UT382 vs. BH1750 was found as R-Sq 100%, R-Sq(adj) 100% and S 2,73; at last for the calibration of UNI-T UT382 vs. TEMT6000 was found as R-Sq 99,2%, R-Sq(adj) 99,1% and S 14,71. After calibration, the regression coefficient based on UNI-T UT382 vs. TSL2561 for the light measurement was found as R-Sq 100%, R-Sq(adj) 100%, and S 2,21; the light measurement for UNI-T UT382 vs. BH1750 was found as R-Sq 100%, R-Sq(adj) 100% and S 1,09; also for the UNI-T UT382 vs. TEMT6000 was found as R-Sq 100%, R-Sq(adj) 100% and S 1,73. According to calibration and measurement results, the BH1750 sensor is better than the others

High-Performance Integrated Window and Façade Solutions for California

The researchers developed a new generation of high-performance façade systems and supporting design and management tools to support industry in meeting California’s greenhouse gas reduction targets, reduce energy consumption, and enable an adaptable response to minimize real-time demands on the electricity grid. The project resulted in five outcomes: (1) The research team developed an R-5, 1-inch thick, triplepane, insulating glass unit with a novel low-conductance aluminum frame. This technology can help significantly reduce residential cooling and heating loads, particularly during the evening. (2) The team developed a prototype of a windowintegrated local ventilation and energy recovery device that provides clean, dry fresh air through the façade with minimal energy requirements. (3) A daylight-redirecting louver system was prototyped to redirect sunlight 15–40 feet from the window. Simulations estimated that lighting energy use could be reduced by 35–54 percent without glare. (4) A control system incorporating physics-based equations and a mathematical solver was prototyped and field tested to demonstrate feasibility. Simulations estimated that total electricity costs could be reduced by 9-28 percent on sunny summer days through adaptive control of operable shading and daylighting components and the thermostat compared to state-of-the-art automatic façade controls in commercial building perimeter zones. (5) Supporting models and tools needed by industry for technology R&D and market transformation activities were validated. Attaining California’s clean energy goals require making a fundamental shift from today’s ad-hoc assemblages of static components to turnkey, intelligent, responsive, integrated building façade systems. These systems offered significant reductions in energy use, peak demand, and operating cost in California

Autonomous Sensing Nodes for IoT Applications

The present doctoral thesis fits into the energy harvesting framework, presenting the development of low-power nodes compliant with the energy autonomy requirement, and sharing common technologies and architectures, but based on different energy sources and sensing mechanisms. The adopted approach is aimed at evaluating multiple aspects of the system in its entirety (i.e., the energy harvesting mechanism, the choice of the harvester, the study of the sensing process, the selection of the electronic devices for processing, acquisition and measurement, the electronic design, the microcontroller unit (MCU) programming techniques), accounting for very challenging constraints as the low amounts of harvested power (i.e., [μW, mW] range), the careful management of the available energy, the coexistence of sensing and radio transmitting features with ultra-low power requirements. Commercial sensors are mainly used to meet the cost-effectiveness and the large-scale reproducibility requirements, however also customized sensors for a specific application (soil moisture measurement), together with appropriate characterization and reading circuits, are also presented. Two different strategies have been pursued which led to the development of two types of sensor nodes, which are referred to as 'sensor tags' and 'self-sufficient sensor nodes'. The first term refers to completely passive sensor nodes without an on-board battery as storage element and which operate only in the presence of the energy source, provisioning energy from it. In this thesis, an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) sensor tag for soil moisture monitoring powered by the impinging electromagnetic field is presented. The second term identifies sensor nodes equipped with a battery rechargeable through energy scavenging and working as a secondary reserve in case of absence of the primary energy source. In this thesis, quasi-real-time multi-purpose monitoring LoRaWAN nodes harvesting energy from thermoelectricity, diffused solar light, indoor white light, and artificial colored light are presented

Design and Evaluation of an Automated Monitoring and Control System for Greenhouse Crop Production

An embedded system integrated with sensors based on nanomaterial is proposed for closely monitoring and control microclimate parameters 24 hours a day to maximise production over the whole crop growth season by introducing greenhouse for the cultivation of plants or specific plant species. The system will also eliminate errors in human intervention to optimise production of crops. This system consists of sensors and actuators, an Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC) and a Raspberry Pi. The system will determine whether a defined threshold is passed by any climate parameter and systematically changes via the controller. The current work reduces human input through automated irrigation to optimally utilize a scarce resource, namely water. Climatic parameters for plant growth such as, moisture, humidity, temperature, water pressure in drip pipe, soil salinity etc. are monitored and optimized. Furthermore, work was extended to include GSM to control the entire farm remotely. For its success, it is very important to choose a greenhouse location. For instance, the problems are quite different when choosing an adjoining greenhouse, for instance a sunroom or greenhouse. The greenhouse location should be chosen for sunlight, proximity to power and water sources, wind, drain and freeze pockets, and the proximity of the garden and house. The intention behind accomplishment and devise of GSM based Fertigation System is to construct and evaluate the requirement of water in the yield as farming is the major resource of production which habitually depends on the water accessibility. Irrigation of water is usually done by manual method. To ease the work of the farmer GSM based automatic Fertigation (includes chemigation too) system can be implemented so that water wastage can be reduced and also the fertilizer can be added accordingly. Also the Soil Salinity can be checked and reduced if exceeds certain limit. By using GSM, only GSM command via GSM mobile can control the start and stop action of a motor that feeds the field with the water. GSM is used for controlling the entire process and the entire system backbone. It can be used from any distance to control irrigation. The results are assessed by electronic simulator PROTEUS using the desired optimised parameters, the design of this automated greenhouse system with PIC controller. As the inputs to the microcontroller and as an LCD screen record the respective outputs, the model produces a soil moisture sensor, light sensor and temperature sensor. The system performance is accurate and repeatable for measuring and controlling the four parameters that are crucial for plant growth - temperature, humidity, soil moisture and light intensity. With the reduction in electricity consumption, maintenance and complexity, and a flexible and precise environment control form for agriculture, the new system successfully cured quite a couple of defects in existing systems. Nano composite film sensors (Graphene and Graphene mixed in order to optimise the input of fertilisers for chemical composition determination. Using nano technology in agriculture enforces the firm bond between the engineer and farmer. Nano material film-based gas sensors were used to measure the presence of oxygen and CO2.using graphene nano composite sensors integrated into an embedded system, to detect the presence and levels of gases. Improve crop growth with combined red and blue light for lighting under the leavened and solar-powered LED lighting modules. This was achieved by graph/solar cells. The light was measured at the photosynthesis flux (PPFD) of 165 μmol m-2 s-1 by 10 cm of its LED module. LED lights were provided between 4:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. in the daytime treatments and night treatments from 10 to 10 hours. The use of the nighttime interlumination of LEDs was also economical than the interlumination of charts. Thus, nightlighting LEDs can effectively improve plant growth and output with less energy than the summer and winter times. Solar panels are best functioning during times of strong sunlight today, but begin to wan when they become too hot and cloudy. By allowing Solar Panels to produce electricity during harsh weather conditions and increase efficiency, a breakthrough in graphene-based solar panels can change everything. Ultimately with a fully autonomous system, agricultural productivity and efficiency, the length of the growing season, energy consumption and water consumption were recorded and monitored by exporting the data over GSM environment. With the steady decrease in the cost of high-performing hardware and software, the increased acceptance of self-employed farming systems, and the emerging agricultural system industry, the results will be reliable control systems covering various aspects of quality and production quantity

Holdsworth Retrofit and Renovation

The University of Massachusetts has a rapidly evolving commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the environmental sustainability of its operations. According to the most recent IPCC report, the buildings sector has more potential to contribute to climate change mitigation than any other sector.1 The energy efficient designs of the current spate of building projects are indicative of the University’s commitment to green building—reducing the energy intensity of the university relative to building area and activities. However, these efforts cannot reduce the total energy use or greenhouse gas emissions from current levels. Among the University’s assets with the greatest potential to achieve these goals are its existing buildings. Most of these are good buildings that have not reached the end of their useful life. Forty-two buildings, encompassing more than half of the general administration and educational space fall into the categories of “catch up and keep up” or “keep and renew” according to the university’s Building Disposition Report.2 Many of the existing buildings have great historical, aesthetic, and emotional value and have stood the test of time as the site of the academic, scientific, and cultural work that is their primary purpose. Can these buildings be updated to dramatically reduce their energy consumption and allow them to continue to function as valuable assets for the long term? What levels of energy savings are possible and reasonable? This report is designed to answer these questions for one representative building: Holdsworth Hall. The recommendations in this report are the product of a detailed and careful examination and exploration of the building and its operations. The investigations and proposed solutions are motivated by two principles: First, the architectural intention should be respected. The building as designed works well on many levels, and no recommendation should undermine currently effective systems and designs or compromise the aesthetic intention of its designers. Second, the building is a complex system, and no change can be considered in isolation. Single measures may achieve savings, but cannot maximize savings or performance without complementary changes in related systems. A final package of recommended measures will define a new building system with emergent properties that make for a qualitatively different and better building beyond simple energy consumption metrics. 1

Photovoltaics and Electrification in Agriculture

Integration of photovoltaics and electrification in agriculture. Works on the integration of photovoltaics in agriculture, as well as electrification and microgrids in agriculture. In addition, some works on sustainability in agriculture are added

Integrating Smart Ceiling Fans and Communicating Thermostats to Provide Energy-Efficient Comfort

The project goal was to identify and test the integration of smart ceiling fans and communicating thermostats. These highly efficient ceiling fans use as much power as an LED light bulb and have onboard temperature and occupancy sensors for automatic operationbased on space conditions. The Center for the Environment (CBE) at UC Berkeley led the research team including TRC, Association for Energy Affordability (AEA), and Big Ass Fans (BAF). The research team conducted laboratory tests, installed99 ceiling fans and 12 thermostats in four affordable multifamily housing sites in California’s Central Valley, interviewed stakeholders to develop a case study, developed an online design tool and design guide, outlined codes and standards outreach, and published several papers.The project team raised indoor cooling temperature setpoints and used ceiling fans as the first stage of cooling; this sequencing of ceiling fans and air conditioningreducesenergy consumption, especially during peak periods, while providing thermal comfort.The field demonstration resulted in 39% measured compressor energy savings during the April–October cooling seasoncompared to baseline conditions, normalized for floor area. Weather-normalized energy use varied from a 36% increase to 71% savings, withmedian savings of 15%.This variability reflects the diversity in buildings, mechanical systems, prior operation settings, space types, andoccupants’ schedules,preferences, and motivations. All commercial spaces with regular occupancy schedules (and twoof the irregularly-occupied commercial spaces and one of the homes) showed energy savings on an absolute basis before normalizing for warmer intervention temperatures,and 10 of 13 sites showed energy savings on a weather-normalized basis. The ceiling fans provided cooling for one site for months during hot weather when the coolingequipment failed.Occupants reported high satisfaction with the ceiling fans and improved thermal comfort. This technology can apply to new and retrofit residential and commercial buildings