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  • © 2020

Soil, Plant and Atmosphere

Concepts, Processes and Applications

  • Oriented to international courses of Agronomy, Hidrology, Environmental Sciences etc
  • Intended for undergraduate and graduate students
  • Easy reading and well illustrated

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Table of contents (19 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxi
  2. Man and the Soil–Plant–Atmosphere System

    • Klaus Reichardt, Luís Carlos Timm
    Pages 1-6
  3. Water, the Universal Solvent for Life

    • Klaus Reichardt, Luís Carlos Timm
    Pages 7-13
  4. The Soil as a Water Reservoir for Plants

    • Klaus Reichardt, Luís Carlos Timm
    Pages 15-48
  5. Plant: The Solar Energy Collector

    • Klaus Reichardt, Luís Carlos Timm
    Pages 49-61
  6. Atmosphere: The Fluid Envelope That Covers the Planet Earth

    • Klaus Reichardt, Luís Carlos Timm
    Pages 63-80
  7. The Equilibrium State of Water in the Systems

    • Klaus Reichardt, Luís Carlos Timm
    Pages 81-132
  8. The Movement of Water in the Systems

    • Klaus Reichardt, Luís Carlos Timm
    Pages 133-178
  9. Soil Water as a Nutrient Solution

    • Klaus Reichardt, Luís Carlos Timm
    Pages 179-202
  10. Aspects of the Soil Atmosphere

    • Klaus Reichardt, Luís Carlos Timm
    Pages 203-208
  11. How Heat Is Propagated in the Soil

    • Klaus Reichardt, Luís Carlos Timm
    Pages 209-215
  12. Water Infiltration into the Soil

    • Klaus Reichardt, Luís Carlos Timm
    Pages 217-240
  13. Water Redistribution After Infiltration into the Soil

    • Klaus Reichardt, Luís Carlos Timm
    Pages 241-257
  14. Evaporation and Evapotranspiration: The Vapor Losses to the Atmosphere

    • Klaus Reichardt, Luís Carlos Timm
    Pages 259-273
  15. How Do Plants Absorb Soil Water?

    • Klaus Reichardt, Luís Carlos Timm
    Pages 275-288
  16. The Water Balance in Agricultural and Natural Systems

    • Klaus Reichardt, Luís Carlos Timm
    Pages 289-312
  17. How Plants Absorb Nutrients from the Soil

    • Klaus Reichardt, Luís Carlos Timm
    Pages 313-330
  18. Dimensional Analysis, Scaling, and Fractals

    • Klaus Reichardt, Luís Carlos Timm
    Pages 423-444

About this book

This textbook presents the concepts and processes involved in the soil-plant-atmosphere system as well as its applications in the water cycle in agriculture. Although reaching the frontier of our knowledge in several subjects, each chapter starts at the graduation level and proceeds to the post-doctoral level. Its more complicated subjects, as math and physics, are well explained, even to readers not well acquainted with these tools. Therefore, it helps students read, understand, and developing their thoughts on these subjects. Instructors also find it an easy book with the needed depth to be adopted in courses related to Soil Physics, Agricultural Management, Environmental Protection, Irrigation and Agrometeorology. It serves also as “lexicon” to engineers and lawyers involved in agricultural, environmental cases.


Authors and Affiliations

  • Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura and Escola Superior de agricultura “Luiz de Queiróz”, University of Sao Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil

    Klaus Reichardt

  • Rural Engineering Department, Faculty of Agronomy, Federal University of Pelotas, Capão do Leão, Brazil

    Luís Carlos Timm

About the authors

Klaus Reichardt holds a degree in Agronomy from the University of São Paulo (USP), a PhD in Agronomy from USP, a PhD in Physics and Meteorology from USP, a PhD in Soil Science from the University of California and a Full Professor in Physics and Meteorology by USP. Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA) and of the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), member of the Brazilian Academy of Science (ABC) and of the Third World Academy of Science (TWAS). He is currently retired senior professor of the Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture (CENA), acting also at the Agricultural College Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ), both of the University of São Paulo, in Piracicaba, SP, Brazil. He has experience in Physics, with emphasis in Applied Physics, acting mainly on the following subjects: soil water, neutron probe, soil hydraulic conductivity, soil tomography, agricultural balance of agricultural crops, spatial variability of soil parameters with emphasis in geostatistics and regionalized variables, the use of isotopes as markers in agricultural experiments, agrometeorology, soil physics and crop science. In 2019, he has 8 graduate students for PhD and MS.


Luís Carlos Timm holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering from the Federal University of Pelotas, a Master in Irrigation and Drainage from Federal University of Viçosa, and a PhD in Agronomy from University of São Paulo. He is currently Associate Professor of the Faculty of Agronomy, Federal University of Pelotas. He has experience in Soil Physics and Statistics, acting mainly on the following subjects: soil water, neutron and capacitance probes, soil hydraulic conductivity, agricultural balance of agricultural crops, spatial and temporal variability of soil and crop parameters with emphasis in time series analysis and geostatistics. He is a membership of the Brazilian Soil Science Society, Brazilian Engineering Agricultural Society and Soil Science Society of America. He is currently a Scholarship Researcher of the Brazilian Council for Scientific Development (CNPq) and Senior Associate of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (Trieste, Italy). He has 10 graduate students for PhD and MS.



Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Soil, Plant and Atmosphere

  • Book Subtitle: Concepts, Processes and Applications

  • Authors: Klaus Reichardt, Luís Carlos Timm

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19322-5

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life Sciences, Biomedical and Life Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-19321-8Published: 04 September 2019

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-19324-9Published: 04 September 2020

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-19322-5Published: 16 August 2019

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXI, 456

  • Number of Illustrations: 264 b/w illustrations, 8 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Agriculture, Plant Sciences, Soil Science & Conservation

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access