Microclimatic Monitoring and Analysis in a Hydroponic Greenhouse

In the last decades, the increasing reduction of per capita arable land and the increasing demand for food requires the development of advanced solutions like soilless cultivations. Hydroponics represents an interesting and efficient response for sustainable cultivations, in particular its evolution hydroponic greenhouse that uses water instead of soil and, so, characterized by different management. In particular, it is important to well manage not only the cultivation area but also: the structural characteristics of greenhouse, the microclimate management, and the nutrients management. To maximize resources efficiency and quality food production, it is fundamental to characterize the microclimatic parameters and their distribution inside greenhouses. This work provides a preliminary study to measure and analyze the main microclimatic parameters in a hydroponic greenhouse without a microclimatic controlling system, located in Vinchiaturo (Italy), with a set of sensors that acquire data continuously. After the installation of sensors to monitor the temperature, humidity, and light intensity, a supervision system was installed to manage and historicize all the measured data. From the data analysis, appropriate management of the hydroponic greenhouse was identified allowing reduced expenses and improved efficiency.