Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION The earth is surrounded by a mixture of gases known as atmosphere. The studies of the atmosphere and the various physical, chemical and dynamical processes taking place in it are called as atmospheric sciences. Our planet earth consists of four broad spheres such as: 1. Lithosphere: The solid or land part, 2. Hydrosphere: The liquid part, Oceans, seas and other water bodies. 3. Atmosphere: Various major, minor and variable gaseous part 4, Biosphere: The life forms, plants & animals etc. MEANING OF METEOROLOGY The word meteorology has been derived from two Greek words. “Meteores} means things up above and ‘logos’ means discourse or study. Thus the term meteorology concerns with the study of the things above i.e. the atmosphere. DEFINITION OF METEOROLOGY Meteorology is the physics of lower part of the atmosphere which results in the changes in the weather and climate at the surface of the earth. It is concerned with the physical, dynamic and chemical state of the earth’s atmosphere and with the interactions between the earth’s atmosphere and the underlying surface. Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences | dealing with the lower part of the atmosphere lying below ab Dkn._ aeFundamentals of Agricultural Climatology i es taki lace in this "physi d_dynamic_processes taking place cart ih : itmos| ate are the Cause of weather and climate at Pan surfac tudy of meteorology related to the rth’s surface. The st r production of crops is known as Agricultural meteorology. MEANING OF AGRICULTURAL METEOROLOGY itself impli it i dy of those aspects of ‘he name itself implies that it is the study 0 pateoroloey, which have direct relevance to agriculture. Agro i to the service of meteorology puts the science of meteorology . gericulture, in its various forms and facets, to help the sensible tee of land, accelerate production of food and to avoid the irreversible abuse of land resources (L. P. Smith, 1970). DEFINITIONS OF AGRICULTURAL METEOROLOGY Important definitions of agricultural meteorology are given below. 1. Agro meteorology is a science investigating the meteorologic, climatologic and hydrologic conditions which are significant for agriculture owing to their interactions with the objects and processes of agricultural production. 2. Agrometeorology is a branch of applied meteorology which investigates the relationship of plants and animals to the physical environment. ann 3. Agrometeorology is the study of physical processes of the atmosphere that produce weather in relation to agricultural production, It app! the physics of air and soil to agriculture. 4. Agrometeorology can be defined as ‘the study of the responses of living organisms to the physical environment’ The physical environment involves several properties of the physical surroundings in which living things are produced, oe air, water, soil, plants and animals. The living umm 4 sneuded in this study are, cultivated plants, tapereteae 's and microorganisms those are of economic The task of an a; meteorological skil igro-meteorologist is to appl ly every relevant il to help the farmer to make the most In ef at cea srme rsd at b tt th 2499Introduction efficient use of his physical environment for improving agricultural production both in quality and quantity (Austin Bourke, 1968). SCOPE OF AGRICULTURAL METEOROLOGY The main objective of the study of agricultural meteorology is to improve agricultural production by accurate forecasting and by control of physical environment. Since agricultural meteorology is concerned with interaction between the meteorological and hydrological factors on one hand and the agriculture in its” widest sénse including horticulture, animal husbandry and forestry on the other, discovering and defining such effects and applying knowledge of atmosphere to practical agricultural use becomes the main concerns of agricultural meteorology. Therefore, the main purpose of the study of agrometeorology is to discover and define the meteorological, climatological and hydrological problems and apply this knowledge of the atmosphere and soil to practical agricultural use. The field of interest of agrometeorology extends from the soil surface layer to the depth up to which tree roots penetrate and in the atmosphere to the height the animals live and the crop plants and higher organisms grow. The agricultural meteorology attempts to enhance agricultural production by controlling the physical environment by accurate forecasting. Forecasting may be of the weather or the predictions of crop yields and quality of crops, or it may be the estimation of livestock production and climatic hazards. The control of physical environment consists of preventing frost, growing windbreaks, adopting flood-control measures, modifying and controlling temperature and humidity in animal Sheds and crop fields. ROLE OF AGROMETEOROLOGIST ~ To increase the efficiency of agricultural planning by accurate forecasting of weather, predicting crop yields and quality, estimating livestock production and_ climatic hazards and controlling the physical environment.4 Fundamentals of Agricultural Climatology 2. Transfer of laboratory and green house results to the open field. Under laboratory or green houses, the biological responses have been measured under controlled conditions and these will have to be extended for field conditions. APPLICATIONS OF AGROMETEOROLOGY There are many areas in agriculture where the knowledge of agrometeorology can be applied. Some of these areas are given below. Prediction, prevention and protection of crops against frost. Forecast of forest fires and their control measures. Water conservation and irrigation scheduling. Planning of planting and harvest dates : Design of green houses, animal shelters and environmental control chambers. Forecasting of incidence and spread of plant pests and diseases and their control. Prediction and prevention of animal diseases. Selection of pastures and animal feeds. Artificial modification of microclimate by controlling temperature, moisture, wind speed etc. gee 2 Pex INTER-DISCIPLINARY APPROACH Agrometeorology is an inter-disciplinary science in which the main scientific disciplines involved are, atmospheric and soil sciences which are concerned with the physical and chemical environment; plant sciences and animal sciences including their pathology, entomology etc. which deal with the content of biosphere. The agricultural meteorology links together the physical environment and biological responses under natural conditions. Thus, agrometeorology makes use of several physical, biological and applied agricultural sciences. The Physics of the air and soil forms the foundation of agrometeorology. An agro meteorologist first formulates an accurate description of the physical environment and_ biological responses. Secondly, he interprets biological responses in terms of the physical environment. Thirdly, he makes crop antIntroduction weather forecasts. His final goal is the control of the physical environment to maximize the crop yields and to reduce the damage due to unfavourable weather conditions. PHYSICAL SCIENCES Physics, meteorology, climatology, and hydrology are the important physical sciences, which are closely related to agrometeorology. Meteorology is the closest science to agrometeorology, and therefore, it is a subject of Applied Meteorology. The study of climatology involves the long term studies of climatic elements such as temperature and rainfall which are important in respect of agricultural operations and agricultural production. Meteorology is mainly concerned with the formation of rain, dew, snow and water vapour in the atmosphere and the processes of evaporation, condensation and evapo-transpiration. Hydrology deals with the processes of run-off, percolation of water, storage of water in soil and deep below the ground surface, irrigation and drainage of agricultural lands etc. AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES Agro meteorological studies are the important parts of individual agricultural sciences. This is because, the growth of plants is basically dependent on the physical conditions of the environment in which they live and grow. So, all the agricultural sciences are incomplete without the incorporation of the information on crop weather relationships. 1. The Soil Scientist needs the information on soil water, soil moisture storage and soil erosion. 2. The Plant Pathologist needs information on the weather factors that affect the incidence and spread of plant diseases, 3. The Agronomist and Horticulturist needs the information on weather and climate that influence crop production. The Agricultural Engineers need information on climatic factors such as rainfall, evapo-transpiration, wind etc. for designing irrigation channels, drainage, wind shelters and farm buildings.Fundamentals of Agricultural Climatology 4g require knowledge about the climatic mologist meee related to outbreak and spread of conditions, which are insects pests. ; a 6. The Animal and Poultry Scientists need climatic information for designing barns and poultry houses. ‘thus, the basic research in almost all the agricultural sciences depends upon the contributions made by agrometeorology. DISCIPLINES CLOSELY RELATED WITH THE STUDY OF AGROMETEOROLOGY Some disciplines which are closely related with the study of agrometeorology but they differ in the way in which they approach the subject. An understanding of these differences is necessary to establish the scope and importance of the subject of agro-meteorology. 1. Agro-Climatology In order to understand the difference between agro-meteorology and agro-climatology one must know the difference between meteorology and climatology. Meteorology is the study of physical processes in the atmosphere that produce weather, whereas the climatology is the study of the totality of weather. In meteorology we study the instantaneous or short-term variations of weather elements. In climatology, we study long- term variations of weather elements of the order of months, seasons and years and make use of statistical analysis extensively. In a broad sense, the subject of agro-meteorology deals with the entire field of study including agro-climatology, instrumentation and meteorological and _ agricultural forecasting. On ha other hand, the agro-climatology deals with systems, ips of climatic regimes and agricultural production 2. Biometeorology Bi ale wii mainly i oa eas with the study of biological responses prainly in human beings and animals to meteorological changes nt such as temperature, radiation, humidity, as rey forIntroduction ind etc., Whereas in agro-meteorology we study biological responses of plants and animals, Agricultural Meteorology Agricultural physics FIG. 1: Agricultural meteorology is a multidisciplinary science, It puts the science of meteorology to the service of agriculture to help farmers for Producing more and more agricultural output. 3. Climatology Climatology is the science dealing with the facts and which determine and control the distribution of climate over the earth’s surface. The principal elements of f climate are rainfall and temperature, 4, Agricultural Climatology Agricultural climatology is the branch of agricultural Meteorology, which deals wit h the relationship of climatic gricultural Production. It also includes WeatherFundamentals of Agricultural Climatology ii ii ranch of agricultural jcultural climatology is a brancl f i mie that concerns itself with the influence of climate on the cultural conditions of agricultural plants, animal husbandry, and the occurrence of detrimental influences and especially on agricultural operating methods in general. METEOROLOGY AND CLIMATOLOGY Meteorology is broadly defined as the science of the atmosphere and is concerned with the physical, dynamical and chemical state of the atmosphere and the interaction between the atmosphere and the surface. ee Climatology is broadly defined as the scientific study of the climate. Meteorology is the study of physical process in the atmosphere that produce weather, where as climatology is the study of totality of weather. There is considerable overlap in the contents of meteorology and climatology. The study of climatology involves the intensive studies of climatic elements suchas rainfall and temperature, which are important in respect of agricultural operations and production. A study in meteorology is mainly concerned with the formation of rain, dew, snow and water vapour in the atmosphere and the processes of evaporation, condensation and evapotranspiration. __ The meteorologist and the climatologists differ significantly in their methodology. The meteorologist employs the laws of classical physics and mathematical techniques in his study of eee Peet where as the climatologists relies climate from wecthe muaues in deriving information about meteorologist studies the weather Cg Oe Said, that ne studies the climate e weather while the climatologists Meteors q : However, climatology is foursied na Oey ae founded on the eae 18 founded on meteorology, which } Therefore, a close cle of physics and mathematics } os ei climatology exist "@tonship between meteorology 2” a pdooomama a soeeadgPa a 24 22 Go the intIntroduction i eather and climate while steorology includes both weather ; ; a ents of wateorology must be necessarily be incorporated in fhe climatology to make the latter meaningful and scientific. WEATHER AND CLIMATE What is Weather? Weather is an instantaneous condition of atmosphere at a given time. It is timely variations of conditions of lower jayer of the atmosphere. Weather pertains to smaller area like village, town, and city or even a district and smaller duration of time i.e. part of a day or complete day or few days or week. The weather conditions may be described as hot day, cold day, rainy. day, cloudy day, -foggy, di r, sunny weather, windy etc. Weather has signific: on every phase of agricultural activity from preparatory tillage to harvesting and storage. What is Climate? Climate means the synthesis of weather at.a given location over a period of time (about 30-35 years). Climate, therefore, refers to the characteristic condition of the atmosphere derived from repeated observations over a long period. It includes considerations of departures from averages (j.e. variability), extreme conditions and the probabilities of frequencies of occurrences of given weather conditions. The climate represents a generalization the event viz., arid, semi arid, humid, tropical, sub tropical and polar whereas weather deals with specific events viz., foggy, cloudy, rainy, sunny etc. Definitions of Climate * Climate is the integration of weather, and weather is the differentiation of climate. Climate is the aggregate of the weather, Climate represents a composite of the day-to-day weather conditions within a specified area over a long peri ‘iod of time. mn he. Processes of exchange of heat and moisture between soe arth and atmosphere over a long period of time, resulting nditions is known as climate Climate is a summary andFundamentals of Agricultural Climatology 10 a composite of weather conditions over a long period of time is known as climate. val ospheric condition over ae tmate is the an eestate, county, part of continent longer area near ard larger duration of time like month or RE ee athe permanent atmospheric condition of a : \ season. Climate is ced by climatic controls like latitude, ; region. It is ours to” sea, rainfall, temperature ete. 4 aera th latitude, we have different types of climates such i 4 . According to : -tropi emperate and polar. Ac aS Tal the chinetes may be arid, semi-arid, humid and’ per 1 aac coats land and sea, climates may be continental 1 humid. Accordiny y lle E as, i ; it may be valley or or maritime, according. to fepoemer ee since hot s mountainous climate or monsoon climate, , : climate etc. b Weather Climate a - Weather is the instantaneous - ae ie generalized state of i state of atmosphere — e ~ Weather provides meteorological | - oa finale geographical E information = information ~ Weather is time specific Climate is location specific n - Weather changes from time to Climate changes from place to i time place 7 ~ Weather influences the ~ Climate decides the suitability of : variability of yield crop q ~ Weather decides the production |- Climate decides the crop é - Weather is what we get > Climate is what we have ~ Weather is what we experience |- Climate is what we expect s > Weather is variable or temporary |- Climate is stable or permanent c ~ Weather determines the actual |- Climate determines the potential yield of the crop yield of the crop R : messes indicated DY ~ Climate is indicated by derived s of Weather eat weather parameters 4 ~ Weather is categorized as fair Climate i i i it, fi * [> Climate is categorized as tropical, a c vo fine and excellent Subtropical, temperate and polar th en Me rgenoted as cloudy, * Climate is described as arid, semi lo Q fopey arid, humid, continental and ec marine - Weathe i fa continggneSul into short term — |. Climate results into long term 5 To eee Riang we agriculture planning £ L_sgticulture planning alL Introduction ee eal : - — i |], Climate determines the regional weather determines the season! : production of crops production of crop Weather is totally random _ Climate is really specific "Weather calls for contingency | Climate refers to general crop crop planning planning imatology indicates the study of ‘o agriculture. Agrometeorology and Agro-Cli The word agrometeorology itself meteorological aspects with direct relevance t Hence, Smith (1970) has defined agrometeorology as the science which puts the science of meteorology to the service of agriculture in its various forms and facets (a small surface) to help the sensible use of land, accelerate food production and to avoid the irreversible abuse of land resources. Agrometeorology is defined as a branch of meteorology, which investigates the relationship of plants and animals to the Agroclimatology is defined as a "physical environment, whereas Branch of climatology that deals with the study of the relationship of climatic regimes an cultural production. ‘Agrometeorology deals with the entire field of study including Agroclimatology, instrumentation and agricultural forecasting where as roclimatolo, deals with the relationship__of__climate___and_agri Agrometeorology and Agroclimatology are multidisciplinary sciences in which the main scientific discipline involved are atmospheric sciences, plant science, soil science, animal science, environmental sciences, global warming and climate change. ROLE OF WEATHER AND CLIMATE IN AGRICULTURE ‘ny vegetation type prevailing in @ region depends on the ecosystem. i soll of that region and function like the natural the basis of the can judge the climatic conditions of a region on locality. How: type of vegetation predominantly prevailing in a eccsyetent that dep smne oo ial. System is, :iman made factors that decid lepends on the climate. The main climatic day lengitt seate 2 crop to be grown are rainfall, temperature sunshine. All crops have their own climatica Fundamentals of Agricultural Climatology “ Applied climatology Medical climatology Branches Regional Climatology \-Sfnoptic Climatology Physical Climatology Dynamic Climatology Applied Climatology A Historical Climatology Agricultural Climatology Bioclimatology Y /building Climatology _/Urban Climatology _Atatistical Climatology Agroclimatology, of are the branches of applied climatology. | Dealing with the study of Regions Pattern of atmospheric circulations Behaviour of weather elements Atmospheric motions (general circulative) Solutions of practical problems of mankind Development of climate Agriculture Man and animal Construction of animal sheds Climate of city bioclimatology and building | Use of statistical methods in climate analysis tology ‘Using the scalar system the following three subdivisions of climatology can be recognized. ‘Scale Description Macro Large areas of earth and large scale atmospheric motions climatology Meso Relatively small areas of between 10 and 100 km across. climatology _| e.g. Urban climate Micro Climate ground surface or of very small areas climatology SS. = dintroduction BRANCHES OF METEOROLOGY «ng on the specific branches of study and_ specific Daptees ot study meteorology is divided in different branches 1, Agro meteorology 2, Aquatic meteorology 3. Air pollution meteorology 4, Agricultural production meteorology 5, Dryland meteorology 6. Farm house meteorology 7. Forest meteorology 8, Hydro meteorology 9, Micro meteorology 10. Satellite meteorology Production meteorology, Hydro ». meteorology Aviation. meteorology Dry land meteorology Air pollution meteorology Satellite meteorology g ‘ Agricultural meteorology ROLE OF AGROMETEOROLOGIST Agrometeorologist i ‘ologist is a scienti nerometeon ; cientist_ who applies oa rological ‘skills to help the farmer and agricultural the most efficient and sensible use of physical16 Fundamentals of Agricultural Climatology environment for improving agricultural Production bo; quality and quantity. He has to apply the knowledge of g of meteorology to the agricultural sciences, th in science * Characterization of climate by using long term weather data and Delineation of efficient crop zones. * To study crop-weather relationship under differe: situations. ¢ Formulation of an accurate description of the physical environment and biological responses. * Interpretation of biological responses in terms of physica] environment, ¢ Forecasting of weather and crop yields. * Controlling physical environment of crop fields and animal houses. nt climatic Agrometeorological Methods can be used in Different Ways: ° Efficient land use planning ¢ Determining suitable crops for a region. * Risk analysis of climatic hazards and profit calculations in farming. e Yield forecasts. ¢ Adoption of farming methods and choice of farm machinery. CLIMATIC CONTROL The basic physical parameters such as heat, moisture aud energy which can’ aracterise the ion neous ea condi temperature, radiation, pressure, wind, humidity, rainfall evaporation, cloud etc. the The climate of a place is determined and modified bY tor s such as geographical, edophic and physiographic Parameters of physical, geographical, _ edaphi e , raphic which interact with wectles elements determi te of a place is called climatic controls. They shy atitude, oceans, water bodies, mountains, topogtP ent, vegetation etc, fac and