Environmental and agricultural modeling and assessment have a multitude of uses for soil parameters governing retention and transport of water and chemicals in soils. These parameters are notorious for the difficulties and high labor costs involved in measuring them. Good estimates instead of direct measurements may be accurate enough for many applications. Pedotransfer functions provide such estimates by utilizing available soil survey information to translate data we have into data we need. This book is the first book on the topic. It provides the unique compendium of pedotransfer functions, summarizes the vast international experience in this field, and shows how the value of soil data can be increased by using them in pedotransfer functions to predict soil hydrologic and related properties. The book is a rich source of information crucial for environmental research and applications.

Environmental and agricultural modeling and assessment have a multitude of uses for soil parameters governing retention and transport of water and chemicals in soils. These parameters are notorious for the difficulties and high labor costs involved in measuring them. Good estimates instead of direct measurements may be accurate enough for many applications. Pedotransfer functions provide such estimates by utilizing available soil survey information to translate data we have into data we need. This book is the first book on the topic. It provides the unique compendium of pedotransfer functions, summarizes the vast international experience in this field, and shows how the value of soil data can be increased by using them in pedotransfer functions to predict soil hydrologic and related properties. The book is a rich source of information crucial for environmental research and applications.

This book presents recent lessons learned in the context of research and development for various dryland ecosystems, focusing on water resources management, land and vegetation cover degradation and remediation, and socioeconomic aspects, as well as integrated approaches to ensuring water and land security in view of the current and predicted climate change. As water and land are the essential bases of food production, the management of these natural resources is becoming a cornerstone for the development of dryland populations. The book gathers the peer-reviewed, revised versions of the most outstanding papers on these topics presented at the ILDAC2015 Conference in Djerba, Tunisia.

This book presents the basic concepts of quantitative soil science and, within this framework, it seeks to construct a new body of knowledge. There is a growing need for quantitative approach in soil science, which arises from a general demand for improved economic production and environmental management. Pedometrics can be defined as the development and application of statistical and mathematical methods applicable to data analysis problems in soil science. This book shows how pedometrics can address key soil-related questions from a quantitative point of view. It addresses four main areas which are akin to the problems of conventional pedology: (i) Understanding the pattern of soil distribution in character space – soil classification, (ii) Understanding soil spatial and temporal variation, (iii) Evaluating the utility and quality of soil and ultimately, (iv) Understanding the genesis of soil. This is the first book that address these problems in a coherent quantitate approach.

From reviews of the first edition: "well organized . . . Recommended as an introductory text for undergraduates" -- AAAS Science Books and Films "well written and illustrated" -- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

The importance to preserve soil and water have is increasingly recognized. Agricultural practices and ecological trends both affect and are affected by soil physical properties. The more frequency of natural disasters, as landslides and thunderstorms addresses the importance to integrate soil characteristics in predictive models. Soil physics research has grown considerably specially in the use of innovative sensors, soil databases, and modeling techniques have been introduced into soil water relationship and environmental monitoring. Those advances are thoroughly dispersed in articles and conference proceedings In this volume, the authors will bring together the effectiveness of many new field and lab sensors and examine the current state-of-the-art in modeling and data analysis. It also includes innovative approaches and case studies in tropical soils. Future directions in soil physics research are given by key researchers in this discipline.

This Encyclopedia of Agrophysics will provide up-to-date information on the physical properties and processes affecting the quality of the environment and plant production. It will be a "first-up" volume which will nicely complement the recently published Encyclopedia of Soil Science, (November 2007) which was published in the same series. In a single authoritative volume a collection of about 250 informative articles and ca 400 glossary terms covering all aspects of agrophysics will be presented. The authors will be renowned specialists in various aspects in agrophysics from a wide variety of countries. Agrophysics is important both for research and practical use not only in agriculture, but also in areas like environmental science, land reclamation, food processing etc. Agrophysics is a relatively new interdisciplinary field closely related to Agrochemistry, Agrobiology, Agroclimatology and Agroecology. Nowadays it has been fully accepted as an agricultural and environmental discipline. As such this Encyclopedia volume will be an indispensable working tool for scientists and practitioners from different disciplines, like agriculture, soil science, geosciences, environmental science, geography, and engineering.