Simulation Model for Plant Growth in Controlled Environment Systems

A controlled-environment crop production system is a probable component in accomplishing the requirements in a self-sustaining regenerative CELSS of atmospheric regeneration by reduction of carbon dioxide and evolution of oxygen and of production of food. Because higher plants are extremely complex biological systems, inclusion of a crop production system in a CELSS raises concerns of (1) how to evaluate the long-term dynamic effects of environmental conditions on plant growth and yield, and (2) once any set of environmental conditions has been experienced by the crop, what can be, or needs to be, done to regulate mass flows within the crop system for optimization within the CELSS. Computer simulation modeling of plant growth can assist in addressing these concerns. Furthermore, mathematical simulation models of plant growth provide a means of using a finite and relatively small number of experimental observations, made under relatively simple and defined conditions, to make inferences to a nearly infinite set of possible conditions for a vastly more complex system.