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As humans move into outer space, need for air, clean water and food require that green plants be grown within all planetary colonies. The complexities of ecosystems require a sophisticated understanding of the interactions between the atmosphere, all nutrients, and life forms. While many experiments must be done to find the relationships between mass flows and chemical/energy transformations, it seems necessary to develop generalized models to understand the limitations of plant growth. Therefore, it is critical to have a robust modelling capability to provide insight into potential problems as well as to direct efficient experimentation. Last year we reported on a simple leaf model which focused upon the mass transfer of gases, radiation/heat balances, and the production of photosynthetically produced carbohydrate. That model indicated some of the plant processes which had to be understood in order to obtain parameters specific for each species.

As mankind explores the planets, human needs for air, clean water, and food suggest that plants be carried to and exist on his colonies. The complexities of even a simple ecosystem of humans and a single plant crop require a sophisticated understanding of the interactions between atmosphere, nutrients and lifeforms. While many experiments could be done to find the relationships between mass flows and chemical/energy transformations, it would be simpler to develop a generalized model of plant growth, to validate it, and to use it to test the variations possible within a closed environment. Such a model specifically designed for a closed space system should focus on gas mass transfers through the photosynthetic processes, leaf radiation/heat balances, and the production/distribution of carbohydrates.