Modeling of fluorescent lighting systems for micropropagation

A study of the modeling of fluorescent lighting systems for micropropagation is presented. A full scale mock-up of a micropropagation shelf was constructed, and measurements of flux density at various locations under various luminaire mounting heights and configurations were recorded. Analytical and empirical modeling using a number of calculation techniques, including the Integrated Area Fourier Series (IAFS) technique and empirical regression based modeling techniques, were employed to replicate the measured values. The error of the techniques was analyzed. Modeling of the flux densities at the vessel lid level using the analytical IAFS technique results in a Relative Mean Absolute Error (RMAE) of 5,1% when calculating average flux density on a shelf, and 4.5% when calculating relative mean deviation, which is a measure of uniformity. Use of an empirical regression model based on IAFS values to predict flux densities at the plant level results in a RMAE of 9.2%, with a corresponding value for relative mean deviation of 12.1%.