Graduate Program in Agricultural Meteorology, Department of Agronomy

The goal of the Agricultural Meteorology program is to provide M.S. and Ph.D. students with advanced analysis and simulation techniques which will enable them to address the challenging environmental and agricultural problems facing our global community. The basic components of this program are derived from well respected expertise in agronomy, botany, statistics and meteorology at Iowa State University.

ACADEMIC COURSES:
Agricultural Meteorology integrates principles from the sciences of meteorology, plant physiology, and soils. The actual coursework taken by students will vary depending on individual interests. The Agricultural Meteorology courses available for graduate credit are described briefly.

  • Agronomy 505. Biometeorology. Taught by R. Arritt. Energy exchanges near the ground. Radiation, turbulence, conductance and evaporation as components of the heat balance. Environmental conditions within plant canopies. Microclimate modification and biometeorological modelling.

  • Agronomy 507x. Mesoscale Meteorology. Taught by R. Arritt. Analysis and prediction of mesoscale atmospheric processes and their practical consequences.

  • Agronomy 508. Biophysical Crop Ecology. Taught by S. E. Taylor. Principles of physical energy exchange applied to crop growth and development. Ecological implications of radiation, temperature, moisture, and the biological properties of size, shape, resistance to water vapor loss, and radiation exchanges.

  • Agronomy 609. Agricultural Meteorology Conference. Taught by staff. Literature reviews and conferences with staff on special problems beyond the scope of current courses offered.

  • Agronomy 650x. Agronomic Systems Simulation. Taught by R. Arritt, R. Horton and R. Salvador. Physical basis and computational approaches for modeling the atmosphere-soil-biosphere components of the earth system.

    •  In addition, the following meteorology courses are part of the minimum requirements for this program.

  • Meteorology 301, 302. General Meteorology I, II. Taught by staff. A mathematical treatment of atmospheric processes including thermodynamics, radiation and fluid processes in the atmosphere.

  • Meteorology 301L. Weather Observations Laboratory. Taught by staff. Measurements of various atmospheric parameters.

  • Meteorology 302L. Synoptic Laboratory I. Taught by staff. An introduction to weather forecasting.

  • Meteorology 341, 342. Atmospheric Physics I, II. Taught by D. N. Yarger. Atmospheric thermodynamics, cloud and precipitation physics, radar, atmospheric radiation.

    •  Students with a major in Agricultural Meteorology select courses offered by other departments and other subdisciplines within Agronomy depending on the areas of expertise they wish to develop. The courses listed below are those from which students commonly choose. 
    Meteorology:
    
     Meteorology 443, 454, 455          Dynamic Meteorology I, II, III
     Meteorology 454L, 455L             Synoptic Laboratory II, III
     Meteorology 542                    Physical Meteorology
     Meteorology 543, 544               Advanced Dynamic Meteorology I, II
     Meteorology 605                    Micrometeorology

Statistics:
     Statistics 401, Statistical Methods for Research Workers
     Statistics 402, Statistical Design and the Analysis of Experiments
     Statistics 446, 447, Statistical Theory for Research Workers

Botany and Plant Physiology:
     Agronomy 318, Principles of Crop Physiology
     Agronomy 415, World Crops
     Agronomy 516, Crop Physiology and Management
     Botany 511, Plant Nutrition
     Botany 512, Plant Growth Regulation
     Botany 513, Plant Metabolism

Soils:
     Agronomy 354, Soil Fertility
     Agronomy 483, World Soil Resources
     Agronomy 554, Soil Environment-Root Relationships
     Agronomy 561, Irrigation Agriculture
     Agronomy 577, 578, Soil Physics

Entomology:
     Entomology 376, Fundamentals of Entomology and Pest Management
    THESIS AND DISSERTATION RESEARCH:
    An essential component of graduate education is the learning provided by independent research. The specific problems that students undertake depend on their personal interests and the overall research objectives of the research project on which they are working. The research is designed to provide new information that will merit publication in refereed journals.

    PARTICIPATION IN ACTIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMS:
    Both formal and informal meetings between faculty and students provide opportunities to broaden individual career pursuits. All students, regardless of their source of financial support, are expected to participate in the day-to- day decision making process that occurs on the projects directed by the major professor.

    FACULTY IN AGRICULTURAL METEOROLOGY:
    Brief descriptions of the research programs are given below for Agricultural Meteorology staff in the Department of Agronomy. Graduate students whose major study is in this research area will select one of these persons to serve as their major advisor. Additionally, there are staff from other disciplines in Agronomy or from other departments who are doing research in fields closely related to Agricultural Meteorology. They may serve as graduate Program of Study committee members.