Principles of Environmental Physics

Environmental Physics concerns the description and analysis of physical processes that establish the conditions in which all species of life survive and reproduce. The subject involves a synthesis of mathematical relations that describe the physical nature of the environment and the many biological responses that environments evoke. Environmental Physics provides a basis for understanding the complex responses of plants and animals to environmental change.International concern with climate change has made both politicans and the general public much more aware of the impact of local and global weather on all aspects of domestic life, industry and commerce. Environmental Physics has become more widely used by biologists, atmospheric scientists and climate modellers to specify interations between surfaces and the atmosphere. This new edition contains further material on causes of global warming, applications of remote sensing, and the carbon and water cycles of crops and forests.

• Presents a unique synthesis of micrometeorology and ecology in its widest sense
• Deals quantitatively with the impact of weather on living systems but also with the interactions between them that are a central feature of life on earth
• Includes an up-to-date bibliography and review of recent micrometeorological applications in forestry, ecology, hydrology and agriculture
• Includes numerical problems and worked examples

Michael Unsworth is Professor Emeritus of Physics of Oceans and Atmospheres at Oregon State University. He has also been a Visiting Professor at the University of Southampton and the NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Before his tenure at Oregon State University, he was Professor and ultimately Dean of the Faulty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at Nottingham University. He has also served as Head of Station and the NERC Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Edinburgh Research Station and Director at the Center for Analysis of Environmental Change. His work specializes in environmental physics, microclimatology, and agricultural and forest meteorology. He has published numerous journal articles, book chapters, and books on these topics over his prolific career of more than 50 years.