Thermal Properties Of Soils

This monograph describes the thermal properties of soils, unfrozen or frozen. The effects on these properties of water and its phase changes are detailed. An explanation is given of the interaction between moisture and heat transfer. Other influences on soil thermal properties are described, including such factors as soil composition, structure, additives, salts, organics, hysteresis and temprature. Techniques for testing soil thermal conductivity are outlined and the methods for calculating this property are described. The monograph gives the results of an evaluation of these methods whereby their predictions were compared with measured values, thus showing their applicability to various soil types and conditions.

Water Scarcity and Sustainable Agriculture in Semiarid Environment: Tools, Strategies and Challenges for Woody Crops explores the complex relationship between water scarcity and climate change, agricultural water-use efficiency, crop-water stress management and modeling water scarcity in woody crops. Understanding these cause- and effect relationships and identifying the most appropriate responses are critical for sustainable crop production. The book focuses on Mediterranean environments to explain how to determine the most appropriate strategy and implement an effective plan; however, core concepts are translational to other regions. Informative for those working in agricultural water management, irrigation and drainage, crop physiology and sustainable agriculture. Focuses on semi-arid crops including olive, vine, citrus, almonds, peach, nectarine, plum, subtropical fruits and others Explores crop physiological responses to drought at plant, cellular and/or molecular levels Presents tool options for assessing crop-water status and irrigation scheduling

Provides an essential introduction to modeling terrestrial ecosystems in Earth system models for graduate students and researchers.

Can we unlock resilience to climate stress by better understanding linkages between the environment and biological systems? Agroclimatology allows us to explore how different processes determine plant response to climate and how climate drives the distribution of crops and their productivity. Editors Jerry L. Hatfield, Mannava V.K. Sivakumar, and John H. Prueger have taken a comprehensive view of agroclimatology to assist and challenge researchers in this important area of study. Major themes include: principles of energy exchange and climatology, understanding climate change and agriculture, linkages of specific biological systems to climatology, the context of pests and diseases, methods of agroclimatology, and the application of agroclimatic principles to problem-solving in agriculture.

Heat and Mass Transfer in Capillary-Porous Bodies describes the modern theory of heat and mass transfer on the basis of the thermodynamics of irreversible processes. This book provides a systematic account of the phenomena of heat and mass transfer in capillary-porous bodies. Organized into 10 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the processes of the transfer of heat and mass of a substance. This text then examines the application of the theory to the investigation of heat and mass exchange in walls and in technological processes for the manufacture of building materials. Other chapters consider the thermal properties of building materials by using the methods of the thermodynamics of mass transfer. The final chapter deals with the method of finite differences, which is applicable to the solution of problems of non-steady heat conduction. This book is a valuable resource for scientists, post-graduate students, engineers, and students in higher educational establishments for architectural engineering.

While many materials undergo phase change at a fixed temperature, soil systems exhibit a definite zone of phase change. The variation of unfrozen water with temperature causes a soil system to freeze of thaw over a finite temperature range. Exact and approximate solutions are given for conduction phase change of plane layers of soil with unfrozen water contents that vary linearly and quadratically with temperature. The temperature and phase change depths were found to vary significantly from those predicted for the constant-temperature or Neumann problem. The thermal conductivity and specific heat of the soil within the mushy zone varied as a function of unfrozen water content. It was found that the effect of specific heat is negligible, while the effect of variable thermal conductivity can be accounted for by a proper choice of thermal properties used in the constant-thermal-property solution. Keywords: Frozen soils; Phase change; Soils.