Fundamental Principles of Environmental Physics

This book is an interdisciplinary guide to environmental physics grounded in sound mathematical formulation. Its holistic approach allows readers to gain a more complete understanding of physical processes and their interactions with ecological ones, which underpin important environmental issues. The primary focus is on the atmospheric surface layer and topsoil layers. This book interests researchers, students, agronomists, foresters, and urbanist engineers alike. The book covers a wide range of topics within environmental physics, including:

• natural and anthropogenic canopies, including forests, urban or wavy terrains;

• fundamentals of heat and mass transfer;

• atmospheric flow dynamics;

• eddy covariance and aerodynamic approaches for quantification of atmospheric fluxes;

• global carbon budget;

• soil-water relationships;

• climate change; and

• the relevance of biochar as a global carbon sink.

Each chapter includes solved exercises, numerous illustrations, and tables. This refreshed and updated edition also contains a new chapter on soil-water relationships.