USE OF MICROWAVE RADIATION TO STUDY PLANT-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS.

A closed-circuit wind tunnel and an external microwave energy source formed the basis of an experimental technique to investigate relationships between climatic parameters and leaf temperatures. The results of these preliminary experiments are compared with theoretical results obtained by solving the energy balance equation for a single leaf. Time-temperature relationship of an attached bean leaf, exposed to microwave radiation, is compared with a mathematical model which is essentially derived from a knowledge of the cooling coefficient and the absorption factor. At high absorbed radiation and in darkness, stomatal opening of a real bean leaf may reduce its temperature between 2 to 5 degree C.