Agricultural meteorology - its scope and aims; soil and water, plants and crop microclimate, Radiation and the surface energy balance - direct and diffuse components of solar short-wave radiation, estimation of global radiation on a horizontal surface, emission and reflection of radiation, energy in the visible spectrum - light; The energy balance and its components: the long-wave budget; surface radiation temperatures; total radiation budget and complete surface energy balance; Special aspects of radiation and temperature in agriculture.
Water and the hydrological cycle in agriculture - Moisture characteristics of soils; Determination of water loss from land surfaces: fundamentals of the evaporation process, existing methods to determine evaporation, energy balance estimation of evaporation, aerodynamic estimation of evaporation; "Combination" methods of Penman and others: development of the original Penman equation, evaporation formulae of Priestley-Taylor and Penman-Monteith; Special forms of precipitation: dew, snow; Soil moisture budgets -irrigation need.Weather hazards - Drought; Floods; Hail Storms:
Text/Reference Books:
1. Guide to Agricultural Meteorological Practices: WMO No.134, 1981.
2. Lecture Notes for training Class IV Agricultural Meteorological personnel, WMO No.593, 1982.
3. Land use and agro system management under severe climatic conditions, WMO No.633, 1986 |