Abstract:
Row direction of a crop influences the diurnal patterns of energy balance components of the soil-canopy system of the crop. Attempts were made to compare the diurnal patterns of energy balance components of E-W rows of potato with those of N-S rows at partial cover. The diurnal patterns of energy balance components were considered for the soil, canopy and field, separately. Results of the study revealed that the diurnal patterns of energy balance components of field, soil and canopy were strongly influenced by row orientations. LE, LEs and LEc tended to follow the pattern of global radiation of the day of observation. LEs was the dominant form of water loss in both the E-W and N-S rows. The diurnal pattern of LEs observed in N-S rows was larger as compared to E-W rows. Diurnal pattern of LEc from E-W row canopy was larger as compared to E-W row canopy. H showed both positive and negative trends in both the cases. Hs showed positive trends after 09h both in E-W and N-S potato rows indicating that heat flux was towards the soil surface. Hc showed negative trends from 8 to 14h in E-W row canopy and it was 8 to 13h in N-S row canopy.