Mathematical Modelling of Effect of Ambient Temperature and Relative Humidity on Soil Surface Temperature during Dry Season in Abeokuta, South – Western Nigeria

Abstract

Temperature distributions on the soil surface strongly depend on the state of the processes of mass and energy exchanges (radiation and convection, evaporation and water condensation, supply of water through precipitation and gaseous exchange). It was assumed that soil medium is homogeneous and parameters describing this medium are changeless in
the whole of its volume except that they depend on soil temperature and humidity. This work examines the effect of Ambient Temperature and Relative Humidity on Soil Surface Temperature during Dry Season. The data obtained from the experiment were used to generate a model which can be used to predict the soil surface temperature during the dry season in Abeokuta, South – Western Nigeria once the ambient temperature and the relative humidity are known. The chi-square test showed that there was no significant difference (p>0.05) between the expected and observed data. The coefficient of determination (r2) showed that 92.89% of the experimental data were predicted by the model. The model developed in this work enabled us to use simulation prediction as the basis for temperature determination, which otherwise would be difficult or impossible to perform.

Keywords: Ambient Temperature, Relative Humidity, Soil Surface,  Environmental Conditions.