Meteorological data collected at English Short Rotation Coppice (Extensive) sites

As a result of high oil prices in the mid-1970s, many European and Scandinavian countries initiated research programmes investigating fuel production from energy crops. Initial studies were aimed at identifying suitable crop systems. One of the systems tested involved planting coppicing tree species at high densities (around 10,000 stools per hectare) and harvesting above ground growth every two to five years. This system was termed ‘Short Rotation Coppice’ (SRC). In the UK, numerous coppicing tree species were tested using this system (Potter, 1990). Examples include Salix viminalis clones, Populus interamericana clones, Eucalyptus archeri, Alnus cordata, and Northofagus procera. Willow and poplar clones emerged favourably from these trials, producing high yields without succumbing to disease or frost. Other research programmes concentrated on developing harvesting, processing and power generation equipment that could cope with biomass produced by a variety of crop systems including SRC. Political backing for SRC was shown on 20 December 1994 when the UK minister for Energy announced government support for three power generation projects using woodfuel gasification technology. These projects were expected to ‘stimulate substantial commitment to coppicing’.

Although informative, results from early research programmes could not predict the yield of willow or poplar SRC under different environmental conditions. Without this information planners could not make informed decisions as to where SRC plantations and power generation plants should be sited in order to maximise yield and land use efficiency. Growers also needed information on likely yields achievable by different site/clone combinations, in order to estimate their financial return from these crops. For these reasons the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (now incorporated into the Department of the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs [Defra]) and the Forestry Commission (FC) sought to quantify and model the yield potential of a diverse range of willow and poplar clones when grown as SRC on agricultural sites across the UK.

The subsequent research programme ‘Yield models for energy coppice of poplar and willow’ was coordinated by ETSU and carried out by Forest Research (FR) and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Northern Ireland (DARDNI, formally Department of Agriculture, Northern Ireland). The backbone of this research programme was a network of 49 field trials established on agricultural land throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Data collected from these sites continues to be used in the development of empirical yield models and process based predictive yield models capable of estimating the productivity of varieties grown under a range of environmental conditions.
This data set contains the meteorological data collected at these sites during the project. The variables recorded were:
Mean air temperature (oC); Maximum air temperature (oC); Minimum air temperature (oC); Mean soil temperature (oC); Rainfall (mm); Mean relative humidity (%); Photosynthetically Active Radiation (umol.m-2s-1) (with the final two only being introduced from 2000 onwards).
See also Evans S (coordinator), Baldwin M, Casella E, Henshall P, Morgan G, Poole J, Sayce M, Stokes V, Taylor P, Tubby I (2007) Final Report: Yield Models for Energy: Coppice of Poplar and Willow. Report to DTI (B/W2/00624/00/00). Ed: T. Randle and I. Tubby. Attribution statement:

鉴于20世纪70年代中期油价的高涨，众多欧洲及斯堪的纳维亚国家启动了关于能源作物燃料生产的研究计划。初期研究旨在识别适宜的作物系统。其中一项测试的系统涉及在高密度（约每公顷10,000株）种植间伐树种，并每隔两至五年收获地上生长。该系统被称为‘短轮伐期间伐’（SRC）。在英国，利用该系统测试了多种间伐树种（Potter, 1990年）。其中包括Salix viminalis克隆、Populus interamericana克隆、Eucalyptus archeri、Alnus cordata以及Northofagus procera。柳树和杨树克隆在试验中表现良好，产量高且未受疾病或霜冻的影响。其他研究项目专注于开发能够应对包括SRC在内的多种作物系统产生的生物质收获、加工和发电设备。1994年12月20日，英国能源部长宣布政府支持三个使用木材气化技术的发电项目，这标志着对SRC的政治支持。这些项目预计将‘刺激对间伐的实质性承诺’。尽管早期研究项目具有参考价值，但无法预测柳树或杨树SRC在不同环境条件下的产量。缺乏此类信息，规划者无法做出明智的决策，以确定SRC种植园和发电厂的最佳选址，以最大化产量和土地利用效率。种植者也需要关于不同地点/克隆组合可能实现产量的信息，以便估计这些作物的经济回报。鉴于此，贸易工业部（DTI）、农业、渔业和食品部（现并入环境、农业和农村事务部[Defra]）以及林业委员会（FC）寻求量化并模拟在英国农业用地种植的多种柳树和杨树克隆作为SRC时的产量潜力。随后的研究项目‘杨树和柳树能源间伐的产量模型’由ETSU协调，由森林研究所（FR）和北爱尔兰农业和农村发展部（DARDNI，原北爱尔兰农业部）实施。该研究项目的核心是在英格兰、苏格兰、威尔士和北爱尔兰的农业用地建立的49个田间试验网络。从这些地点收集的数据继续用于开发经验性产量模型和基于过程的预测产量模型，这些模型能够估算在不同环境条件下种植品种的生产力。该数据集包含项目期间在这些地点收集的气象数据。记录的变量包括：平均空气温度（摄氏度）；最高空气温度（摄氏度）；最低空气温度（摄氏度）；平均土壤温度（摄氏度）；降雨量（毫米）；平均相对湿度（百分比）；光合有效辐射（umol.m-2s-1）（最后两个变量自2000年起引入）。参见Evans S（协调员），Baldwin M，Casella E，Henshall P，Morgan G，Poole J，Sayce M，Stokes V，Taylor P，Tubby I（2007）最终报告：杨树和柳树能源间伐的产量模型。报告提交给DTI（B/W2/00624/00/00）。编辑：T. Randle和I. Tubby。归属声明：