Nitrogen (N) fertilizer rate is important for high yield and good quality of potato tubers. In this dissertation, I seek to study the response of different potato cultivars under different N fertilizer rates and how that can impact tuber quality, examine the performance of active optical sensors in improving a potato yield prediction algorithm, and evaluate the ability of active optical sensors (GreenSeeker (GS) and Crop Circle (CC)) to optimize a N recommendation algorithm that can be used by potato growers in Maine. This research was conducted at 11 sites over a period of two years (2018–2019) in Aroostook County, Maine; all sites depended on a rainfed system. Three potato cultivars, Russet Burbank, Superior, and Shepody, were planted under six rates of N (0-280 kg ha-1), ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate, and were applied in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. Active optical sensor readings (normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)) were collected weekly after the fourth leaf stage began. The coefficient of determination (R2) between soil organic matter (OM) content and total tuber yield for all sites combined was 0.78**. Sites with ≥ 30 g kg-1 of soil OM produced higher total tuber yield, marketable yield, and tuber weight per plant (39.45%, 45.22%, and 54.94%, respectively) than sites with ≤ 30 g kg-1 of OM. Specific gravity increased by 0.18% in the sites with ≥ 30 g kg-1 of OM. The total tuber yield for the three cultivars was maximized at 168 kg N ha-1. Vegetation indices measurements obtained at stages of 16 or 20 fully expanded leaves were significantly correlated with tuber yield, which can be used in the yield prediction model. Sensor measurements obtained at the 20th leaf stage were significantly correlated with tuber yield, with the exponential model showing the best fit for the regression curve. The recommended N rate calculated based on in-season sensor readings was reduced by approximately 12–14% compared to the total N rate that growers currently apply based on the conventional approach.
Cadmium sulphide CdS films with 200 nm have been prepared by thermal evaporation technique on glass substrate at substrate room temperature under vacuum of 10-5mbar.In this paper, the effect of Dielectric Barrier Discharge plasma on the optical properties of the CdS film. The prepared films were exposed to different time intervals (0, 3, 5, 8) min. For every sample, the Absorption A, absorption coefficient α , energy gap Eg ,extinction coefficient K and dielectric constant ε were studied. It is found that the energy gap were decreased with exposure time, and absorption , Absorption coefficient, refractive index, extinction coefficient, dielectric constant increased with time of exposure to the plasma. Our study conside
... Show MoreIn this study, the optical and thermal performance of a Parabolic Trough Collector PTC system is investigated theoretically. A series of numerical simulations and theoretical analysis has been conducted to investigate the effect of the receiver geometry and location relative to the focal line on its optical performance. The examined receiver geometries are circular, square, triangular, elliptical and a new design of circular‐ square named as channel receiver. The thermal performance of PTC is studied for different flow rates from (0.27 to 0.6 lpm) theoretically. Results showed that the best optical design is the channel receiver with an optical efficiency of 84% while the worst is the elliptical
The optical properties for the components CuIn(SexTe1-x)2 thin films with both values of selenium content (x) [0.4 and 0.6] are studied. The films have been prepared by the vacuum thermal evaporation method with thickness of (250±5nm) on glass substrates. From the transmittance and absorbance spectra within the range of wavelength (400-900)nm, we determined the forbidden optical energy gap (Egopt) and the constant (B). From the studyingthe relation between absorption coefficient (α) photon energy, we determined the tails width inside the energy gap.
The results showed that the optical transition is direct; we also found that the optical energy gap increases with annealing temperature and selenium content (x). However, the width of l
The (NiTsPc) thin films operating by vacuum evaporation technique are high recital and good desirable for number of applications, were dumped on glass substrates at room temperature with (200±20nm) thickness and doped with Al at different percentage (0.01,0.03) besides annealing the sample with 200˚C for 1 hours . The stimuluses of aluminum dopant percentage on characterization of the dropped (Ni Ts Pc) thin films were studied through X-ray diffraction in addition from the attained results, were all the films have polycrystalline in nature, as well the fallouts of XRD aimed at film illustrations polycrystalline, depending on the Al ratio doping, the results, SEM exposed the surface is regularly homogeneous. Utilizing first-ideolog
... Show MoreIn this report Silver doped Tin Sulfide (SnS) thin films with ratio of (0.03) were prepared using thermal evaporation with a vacuum of 4*10-6 mbar on glass with (400) nm thickness and the sample annealing with ( 573K ). The optical constants for the wavelengths in the range (300-900) nm and Hall effect for (SnS and SnS:3% Ag) films are investigated and calculated before and after annealing at 573 K. Transition metal doped SnS thin films the regular absorption 70% in the visible region, the doping level intensification the optical band gap values from 1.5- 2 eV. Silver doped tin sulfide (SnS) its direct optical band gap. Hall Effect results of (SnS and SnS:3% Ag) films show all films were (p-type) electrical conductivity with resistivity of
... Show MoreCdSe quantum dots possess a tuning energy gap which can control gap values according to the size of the quantum dots, this is made the material able to absorb the wavelengths within visible light. A simple model is provided for the absorption coefficient, optical properties, and optical constants for CdSe quantum dots from the size 10nm to 1nm with the range of visible region between (300-730) nm at room temperature. It turns out that there is an absorption threshold for each wavelength, CdSe quantum dots begin to absorb the visible spectrum of 1.4 nm at room temperature for a wavelength of 300 nm. It has been noted that; when the wavelength is increased, the absorption threshold also increases. This applies to the optical propertie
... Show MoreCadmium sulfide and Aluminum doped CdS thin films were prepared by thermal evaporation technique in vacuum on a heated glass substrates at 373K. A comparison between the optical properties of the pure and doped films was made through measuring and analyzing the transmittance curves, and the effect of the annealing temperature on these properties were estimated. All the films were found to exhibit high transmittance in the visible/ near infrared region from 500nm to 1100nm.The optical band gap energy was found to be in the range 2.68-2.60 eV and 2.65-2.44 eV for CdS and CdS:Al respectively , with changing the annealing temperature from room temperature to 423K.Optical constants such as refractive index, extinction coefficient, and complex di
... Show MoreEffect of the thermal annealing at 400oC for 2 hours and Argon laser radiation for half hour on the optical properties of AgAlS2 thin films, prepared on glass slides by chemical spray pyrolysis at 360oC with (0.18±0.05) μm thickness .The optical characteristics of the prepared thin films have been investigated by UV/Vis spectrophotometer in the wavelength range (300 – 1100)nm .The films have a direct allow electronic transition with optical energy (Eg) values decreased from (2.25) eV for untreated thin films to (2.10) eV for the annealed films and to (2.00) eV for the radiated films. The maximum value of the refractive index (n) for all thin films are given about (2.6). Also the extinction coefficient (K) and the real and imaginary d
... Show MoreIn the present work, pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique was applied to a pellet of Chromium Oxide (99.999% pure) with 2.5 cm diameter and 3 mm thickness at a pressure of 5 Tons using a Hydraulic piston. The films were deposited using Nd: YAG laser λ= (4664) nm at 600 mJ and 400 number of shot on a glass substrate, The thickness of the film was (107 nm). Structural and morphological analysis showed that the films started to crystallize at annealing temperature greater than 400 oC. Absorbance and transmittance spectra were recorded in the wavelength range (300-
4400) nm before and after annealing. The effects of annealing temperature on absorption coefficient, refractive index, extinction coefficient, real and imaginary parts of d