Water in Soils and Plants

Catalog description

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Introduction to the physics of the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum; focus on soil, its physical properties, and their interactions with water and weather in terrestrial ecosystems; examination of processes including precipitation, rainfall interception, raindrop impact, infiltration, runoff, drainage, soil water storage, evaporation, transpiration, solar radiation partitioning, soil temperature, and heat transfer near the land surface; interactions of these processes with plant growth, solute transport, water quality, and greenhouse gas emissions are considered; quantitative analysis is emphasized with applications in soil and environmental science, agronomy, ecology, hydrology, and climatology. Prerequisites: SCSC 301 ; knowledge of college-level algebra; graduate classification or approval of instructor.