In South Korea, approximately 65% of the land is mountainous or forested, which limits large-scale farming. Over 53,000 ha of land has been reclaimed from the sea and dedicated to the development of large-scale indoor agricultural complexes. Given the coastal climatic conditions and flat nature, these areas present unique challenges including stronger winds and colder temperatures compared to the inland, leading to high air velocities and operation costs in naturally ventilated greenhouses. Aerodynamic analysis is necessary to estimate crop risk factors and identify potential aerodynamic problems before the construction of these structures. Traditional studies have focused on using natural ventilation rates to estimate greenhouse suitability for plant growth. However, under scenarios of high wind velocity, this approach has critical limitations in accounting for crop damage resulting from high air velocity induced inside naturally ventilated facilities. This is tailored to the fact that ventilation efficiency in naturally ventilated structures increases with an increase in air velocity. High wind velocity induced inside greenhouses is associated with rapid CO2 depletion, stomatal dysfunction, leaf abrasion, mechanical stress etc., which critically affect crop yield and biomass development. Under high wind environment, crop damage resulting from high internal air velocities is an important factor that needs to be accounted for during design of indoor agricultural facilities. This study introduces a CFD model for designing greenhouse complex including multiple greenhouses and model analysis approach. We developed the Aerodynamic Crop Damage Index (ACDI), used it to analyze the model, and compared it to the convectional ventilation efficiency approach. The ACDI revealed a 2.2-fold variation in damage potential based on the greenhouse's location within the complex and a 15-fold variation attributable to wind direction, pinpointing significant damage risks in zones with the highest and lowest air velocities. In contrast, the convectional ventilation efficiency method only identified damage risks in low-velocity areas. ACDI has not only the potential to account for high air velocity effects in naturally ventilated greenhouses but also presents an opportunity for specialized greenhouse complex control and management according to greenhouse position and incoming wind direction. Future research should aim at refining the ACDI for better aerodynamic analysis in greenhouse complexes planning and its integration into greenhouse ventilation control systems.
Acknowledgments: This work was supported by “Regional Innovations Strategy (RIS)” through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by Ministry of Education (MOE) (2024RIS-008)
