Energy balance: latent heat and sensible heat. Soil water: water potential and its component; soil water conductivity, permeability, soil water storage. Crop water use: evaporation, transpiration, evapotranspiration. Estimating crop evapotranspiration. Presley-Taylor equation. Estimating leaf area index. The Ritchie model: separate estimation of evaporation and transpiration. Estimating evapotranspiration according to Penman-Monteith equation (method FAO paper n°56) : canopy and aerodinamic resistence, estimating reference evapotranspiration, estimating evapotranspiration for specific crops using the grass-related crop coefficients. Estimating reference evapotranspiration using measured pan evaporation. Crop water use when soil water is limiting. Relationship between crop yield and crop water use. The quality of water for irrigation. Guidelines for the interpretation of water quality. The production and the irrigation of the crops in saline soils and with the use of salt water.
Laboratories (24 h):
Calculation of crop water use with the use of the models for estimating evapotranspiration.
Visits to irrigated farms.