Evapotranspiration ― Principles and Applications for Water Management

As water access becomes a pressing global issue, efficient usage and accurate estimates of water needed for cropland is becoming increasingly important. Editors Goyal (agricultural & biomedical engineering, U. of Puerto Rico) and Harmsen (agricultural & biosystems engineering, U. of Puerto Rico) present this compilation of research on the water loss process of evapotranspiration (ET). The book is divided into several large parts: principles of ET mechanisms and modeling, applications to local water flux assessment and control, and applications to broad water management plans in the tropics where high temperatures make ET a particularly important process. A list of abbreviations, list of symbols, and extensive prefatory material help to parse and frame the text. Distributed by CRC Press, a Taylor & Francis Group. Annotation c2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Megh R. Goyal, PhD, PE, was born in India. He received his BSc degree in agricultural engineering in 1971 from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana - India; his MSc degree in 1977 and PhD degree in 1979 from the Ohio State University, Columbus; and his master of divinity degree in 2001 from Puerto Rico Evangelical Seminary, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.

Since 1971, he has worked as Soil Conservation Inspector and Research Assistant at Haryana Agricultural University and the Ohio State University; as well as Research Agricultural Engineer at Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez Campus (UPRM). At present, he is a retired professor of agricultural and biomedical engineering in the College of Engineering at University of Puerto Rico _ Mayaguez Campus; and Senior Acquisitions Editor for Agriculture and Biomedical Engineering for Apple Academic Press Inc.

He was the first agricultural engineer to receive the professional license in agricultural engineering in 1986 from the College of Engineers & Surveyors of Puerto Rico. On September 16, 2005, he was proclaimed as "Father of Irrigation Engineering in Puerto Rico for the 20th Centuryi"by the ASABE _ Puerto Rico Section, for his pioneering work on micro irrigation, evapotranspiration, agroclimatology, and soil and water engineering. During his professional career of 42 years, he has received awards such as Scientist of the Year, Blue Ribbon Extension Award, Research Paper Award, Nolan Mitchell Young Extension Worker Award, Agricultural Engineer of the Year, Citations by Mayors of Juana Diaz and Ponce, Membership Grand Prize for ASAE Campaign, Felix Castro Rodriguez Academic Excellence, RashtryaRatan Award and Bharat Excellence Award and Gold Medal, Domingo Marrero Navarro Prize, Adopted son of Moca, Irrigation Protagonist of UPRM, Man of Drip Irrigation by Mayor of Municipalities of Mayaguez/ Caguas/ Ponce and Senate/ Secretary of Agriculture of ELA _ Puerto Rico. He has authored more than 200 journal articles and textbooks, including Biofluid Dynamics of Human Body Systems and Management of Drip/Trickle or Micro Irrigation by Apple Academic Press Inc.

Dr. Eric W. Harmsen received his BSc and MSc degrees in agricultural engineering from Michigan State University and PhD degree from the University of Wisconsin. He holds a professional engineer license. Currently he is currently a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez Campus. He teaches courses in agricultural hydrology, agroclimatology and irrigation. He was previously Associate Research Editor of the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (2001-2005) as well as a reviewer for many professional journals. He is a member of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (U.S. and Puerto Rico Chapters), the Caribbean Food Crop Society, the Puerto Rico Society of Agricultural Scientists, and Gamma Sigma Delta (Agricultural Honor Society).

His research interests include measurement and modeling of all components of the hydrologic cycle; remote sensing of water and energy balance in the tropics; and agroclimatology. Some of Dr. Harmsen's water management related publications and presentation can be found at the following link: http://pragwater.com/selected-publications-and-presentations/