Principles and Applications of Agricultural Meteorology

Weather and climate are natural resources that are considered essential inputs in agricultural planning. They have a direct or indirect impact on all agricultural activities. Agrometeorology is concerned with the interactions between meteorological, hydrological, and pedological factors that influence production systems in agriculture and related sectors such as horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries, and forestry. The role of an agrometeorologist is to define these interactions, correlate physical environments with biological responses, and apply relevant meteorological skills to help farmers exploit weather conditions and improve agricultural production in terms of both quality and quantity. This book is primarily based on the syllabus of the undergraduate course Agricultural Meteorology and has been divided into 23 chapters that cover all aspects of agrometeorology. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the concepts, definition, importance, scope, history, and future needs of agrometeorology. Chapter 2 offers basic information on the atmosphere. Chapters 3 to 13 discuss weather parameters such as radiation, temperature, humidity, evaporation, fog and dew, pressure, wind, clouds, monsoon, and precipitation, and their importance in agriculture. Chapters 14 to 22 focus on applied aspects of meteorology, including climatic hazards, agroclimatic classification, micrometeorology of crops, weather in relation to crop pests and diseases, weather in relation to animal production, climate change, weather forecasting, remote sensing, and crop simulation modeling. Finally, Chapter 23 describes the features of an agrometeorological observatory.