SOLAR RADIATION ABSORPTION BY PLANT LEAVES

The aim of this research is to implement the model for solar radiation absorption by plant leaves to study the effects of season and time of the day on the absorbed amount of solar radiation. The effect of leaf area index, leaf angle distribution, leaf absorption coefficient were also considered. Calculations for the radiation flux densities for sunlit leaves, the radiation flux densities for shaded leaves, and the Absorbed total Photosynthetically Active Radiation on the leaves were carried out for Baghdad city (Latitude 33o N). The results showed that the behavior of sunlit leaves and shaded leaves behave differently as season and time of the day change. The leaf parameters have significant effect on the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the leaves.