Ferreira, Maria IsabelSilva, Rodolfo Miranda Pedrosa2010-11-172010-11-172009http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/2520Doutoramento em Engenharia Agronómica - Instituto Superior de AgronomiaThis work presents a new approach to quantify crop water requirements for irrigation scheduling in woody crops. Based in widely available technologies, in the scientific knowledge about plant water relations and on weather prediction, a system was developed to quantify transpiration and water status of a kiwifruit orchard – the case study used. Based on the observed actual crop conditions and in the forecasted reference evapotranspiration, the SPAC model (system component) simulates root water uptake and stomatal control to predict hourly crop transpiration and water status evolution at short/medium term. To achieve this goal, a plant monitoring subsystem was developed quantifying plant transpiration by means of sap flow measurements and quantifying actual crop water status using a new microdendrometric index, locally calibrated. The experimental work that allowed the development and testing of this system, was developed between 2003 and 2006, in controlled and natural conditions, at ISA experimental facilities and in commercial orchards in northwest Portugal.porevapotranspirationcrop monitoringnumerical weather predictionSPAC modelirrigation schedulingActinidia deliciosaevapotranspiraçãomonitorização vegetalprevisão numérica do tempomodelo SPACgestão da regadoctoral thesis