Foreword I
The objective of this book is to promote an understanding of the qualitative
characterization of heat and mass transfer processes in the atmospheric boundary
layer. More specifically, it addresses the quantification of energy budgets and
vertical gas fluxes over vegetated surfaces including evapotranspiration. The book
abides by a classical definition of biophysical ecology in that “This understanding is
enhanced by using mathematical formulations of physical processes and relating
them to the unique properties of organisms”.
1
The topics covered by the book are instrumental to deal with issues of great
societal relevance. Agriculture and forestry manage exchanges of light, water, and
gases between vegetated land surfaces and the atmosphere to produce food, feed,
fiber, wood, and fuels. From an environmental protection perspective, biophysical
ecology plays equally significant roles in the study and development of solutions
for the problems of climate change, desertification, and protection of biological
diversity, which is critically dependent on healthy vegetated habitats.
The judicious choices of the scope and depth of the book contents and its clarity
of organization are very well targeted for a public of undergraduate and master’s
level instructors, students, and practitioners in the environmental sciences, earth
sciences, agriculture, forestry, and physical geography.
The main body of the text characterizes the atmospheric surface layer, including
turbulent flow, flow over built-up surfaces, mass and energy flows over forests,
essential concepts of heat and mass transfer, and fundamentals of the global carbon
budget and climate change. The latter topic includes a component discussing the
potential relevance of biochar as a global carbon sink, a theme of utmost importance
nowadays. Worked-out exercises dealing with the concepts introduced in the previous chapters are well designed and will help consolidate understanding of the
corresponding topics. A series of annexes effectively frame and complement some
of the themes addressed in the main section of the book for the reader interested in
additional information.
The three authors have academic backgrounds in Forestry (an engineering
degree, in Portugal), and in Mechanical Engineering. Abel Rodrigues has an
undergraduate degree in Forestry engineering obtained in 1983 from the School of
1
Gates, D. M. (2012). Biophysical ecology. Courier Corporation.
v
The objective of this book is to promote an understanding of the qualitative
characterization of heat and mass transfer processes in the atmospheric boundary
layer. More specifically, it addresses the quantification of energy budgets and
vertical gas fluxes over vegetated surfaces including evapotranspiration. The book
abides by a classical definition of biophysical ecology in that “This understanding is
enhanced by using mathematical formulations of physical processes and relating
them to the unique properties of organisms”.
1
The topics covered by the book are instrumental to deal with issues of great
societal relevance. Agriculture and forestry manage exchanges of light, water, and
gases between vegetated land surfaces and the atmosphere to produce food, feed,
fiber, wood, and fuels. From an environmental protection perspective, biophysical
ecology plays equally significant roles in the study and development of solutions
for the problems of climate change, desertification, and protection of biological
diversity, which is critically dependent on healthy vegetated habitats.
The judicious choices of the scope and depth of the book contents and its clarity
of organization are very well targeted for a public of undergraduate and master’s
level instructors, students, and practitioners in the environmental sciences, earth
sciences, agriculture, forestry, and physical geography.
The main body of the text characterizes the atmospheric surface layer, including
turbulent flow, flow over built-up surfaces, mass and energy flows over forests,
essential concepts of heat and mass transfer, and fundamentals of the global carbon
budget and climate change. The latter topic includes a component discussing the
potential relevance of biochar as a global carbon sink, a theme of utmost importance
nowadays. Worked-out exercises dealing with the concepts introduced in the previous chapters are well designed and will help consolidate understanding of the
corresponding topics. A series of annexes effectively frame and complement some
of the themes addressed in the main section of the book for the reader interested in
additional information.
The three authors have academic backgrounds in Forestry (an engineering
degree, in Portugal), and in Mechanical Engineering. Abel Rodrigues has an
undergraduate degree in Forestry engineering obtained in 1983 from the School of
1
Gates, D. M. (2012). Biophysical ecology. Courier Corporation.
v