The scaling issue remains one of the largest problems in soil science and hydrology. This book is a unique compendium of ideas, conceptual approaches, techniques, and methodologies for scaling soil physical properties. Scaling Methods in Soil Physics covers many methods of scaling that will be useful in helping scientists across a range of soil-rel
Scaling of freezing phenomena in soils; Miller similitude generalized scaling analysis; Application of scaling to the characteriation of spatial variability in soils; Application of scaling to the analysis of unstable flow phenomena; Characteristic lengths and times associated with processes in the root zone; Scaling of mechanical stresses in unsaturated granular soils; The consequences of fractal scaling in heterogeneous soils and porous media.
Principles of Soil Physics examines the impact of the physical, mechanical, and hydrological properties and processes of soil on agricultural production, the environment, and sustainable use of natural resources. The text incorporates valuable assessment methods, graphs, problem sets, and tables from recent studies performed around the globe and offers an abundance of tables, photographs, and easy-to-follow equations in every chapter. The book discusses the consequences of soil degradation, such as erosion, inhibited root development, and poor aeration. It begins by defining soil physics, soil mechanics, textural properties, and packing arrangements . The text continues to discuss the theoretical and practical aspects of soil structure and explain the significance and measurement of bulk density, porosity, and compaction. The authors proceed to clarify soil hydrology topics including hydrologic cycle, water movement, infiltration, modeling, soil evaporation, and solute transport processes. They address the impact of soil temperature on crop growth, soil aeration, and the processes that lead to the emission of greenhouse gases. The final chapters examine the physical properties of gravelly soils and water movement in frozen, saline, and water-repellant soils. Reader-friendly and up-to-date, Principles of Soil Physics provides unparalleled coverage of issues related to soil physics, structure, hydrology, aeration, temperature, and analysis and presents practical techniques for maintaining soil quality to ultimately preserve its sustainability.
Applications of Soil Physics deals with the applications of soil physics and covers topics ranging from infiltration and surface runoff to groundwater drainage, evaporation from bare-surface soils, and uptake of soil moisture by plants. Water balance and energy balance in the field are also discussed, along with tillage and soil structure management. The development and extension of Penman's evaporation formula is also described. This book is comprised of 14 chapters and begins with a systematic description of the field-water cycle and its management, with emphasis on infiltration and runoff; redistribution and drainage; evaporation and transpiration; and irrigation and tillage. Subsequent chapters focus on transpiration from plant canopies; freezing phenomena in soils; scaling and similitude of soil-water phenomena; spatial variability of soil physical properties; and movement of solutes during infiltration into homogeneous soil. Concepts of soil-water availability to plants are considered, together with principles of irrigation management and the advantages and limitations of drip irrigation. This monograph is intended for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students of the environmental, engineering, and agronomic sciences.
Scaling of freezing phenomena in soils; Miller similitude and generalized scaling analysis; Application of scaling to soil-water movement considering hysteresis; Application of scaling to the characterization of spatial variability in soils; Application of scaling to the analysis of unstalbe flow phenomena; Characteristic lenghts and times associated with processes in the root zone; Scaling of mechanical stresses in unsaturated granular soils; The consequences of fractal scaling in heterogeneous soils and porous media.
An abridged, student-oriented edition of Hillel's earlier published Environmental Soil Physics, Introduction to Environmental Soil Physics is a more succinct elucidation of the physical principles and processes governing the behavior of soil and the vital role it plays in both natural and managed ecosystems. The textbook is self-contained and self-explanatory, with numerous illustrations and sample problems. Based on sound fundamental theory, the textbook leads to a practical consideration of soil as a living system in nature and illustrates the influences of human activity upon soil structure and function. Students, as well as other readers, will better understand the importance of soils and the pivotal possition they occupy with respect to careful and knowledgeable conservation. - Written in an engaging and clear style, posing and resolving issues relevant to the terrestrial environment - Explores the gamut of the interactions among the phases in the soil and the dynamic interconnection of the soil with the subterranean and atmospheric domains - Reveals the salient ideas, approaches, and methods of environmental soil physics - Includes numerous illustrative exercises, which are explicitly solved - Designed to serve for classroom and laboratory instruction, for self-study, and for reference - Oriented toward practical problems in ecology, field-scale hydrology, agronomy, and civil engineering - Differs from earlier texts in its wider scope and holistic environmental conception
Our dependence on soil, and our curiosity about it, is leading to the investigation of changes within soil processes. Furthermore, the diversity and dynamics of soil are enabling new discoveries and insights, which help us to understand the variations in soil processes. Consequently, this permits us to take the necessary measures for soil protection, thus promoting soil health. This book aims to provide an up-to-date account of the current state of knowledge in recent practices and assessments in soil science. Moreover, it presents a comprehensive evaluation of the effect of residue/waste application on soil properties and, further, on the mechanism of plant adaptation and plant growth. Interesting examples of simulation using various models dealing with carbon sequestration, ecosystem respiration, and soil landscape, etc. are demonstrated. The book also includes chapters on the analysis of areal data and geostatistics using different assessment methods. More recent developments in analytical techniques used to obtain answers to the various physical mechanisms, chemical, and biological processes in soil are also present.
This is a series of personal recollections concerning the life and work of a leading American-Israeli environmental and agricultural scientist, whose wide-ranging personal and professional experiences span eight decades and some 40 countries around the world. It recalls a family's journey in 1932 from California to Palestine, and the events that led to his taking part in the establishment of the first modern settlement in the highlands of the Negev Desert (later joined by ex-Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion), and helping to innovate and apply efficient methods of soil and water management in irrigated and rain-fed farming.Over the years, Daniel Hillel has taught hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students at major universities in Israel and the US, authored over 200 original research papers and ten definitive textbooks that have been translated and published in several languages, initiated and edited eight multi-author books (including the Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment), and served on advisory and research missions (sponsored by UN's FAO, IAEA, USAID, Canada's IDRC, and Germany's ZEF) to some 40 countries in Asia, Africa, South America and Australasia, and was environment and irrigation advisor to the World Bank. He has helped initiate and conduct research at NASA/Goddard Institute and Columbia University on the potential impacts of climate change on regional and global food production.Dr Hillel's life-long goal is to enhance the application of science toward the efficient and environmentally sound development of human, biotic, land, and water resources. For his multiple contributions to the science and the practice of enhanced and sustainable food production, Dr Hillel was awarded the World Food Prize in 2012.
