Finite volumes for CO2 transport and assimilation in a leaf

Full title: Axisymmetric finite volumes for the numerical simulation of bulk CO2 transport and assimilation in a leaf

Abstract: This paper deals with the numerical simulation of CO2 transport in the leaf. We study a mathematical model of the diffusion and photosynthesis processes, and present the implementation of an axisymmetric cell centred finite volume scheme for their numerical simulation. The resulting code enables the computation of the lateral diffusion coefficient in the leaf porous medium, from experimental measurements which yield the point wise value of internal CO2 concentration. Hence our model and numerical code allow the analysis of the role of the internal diffusion in the photosynthesis process. We show here that under moderate light, CO2 does not diffuse across long distances because it is rapidly assimilated by photosynthesising cells.

Date of publication : September 2005

Paper presented by Professor Fayssal Benkhaldoun