Agrophysics
Encyclopedia
Agrophysics is a branch of science bordering on agronomy
and physics
,
whose objects of study are the agroecosystem
- the biological object
s, biotope
and biocoenosis
affected by human
activity
, studied and described using the methods of physical science
s.
Agrophysics is closely related to biophysics
, but is restricted to the biology
of the plant
s, animal
s, soil
and an atmosphere
involved in agricultural
activities and biodiversity
. It is different from biophysics in having the necessity of taking into account the specific features of biotope
and biocoenosis
, which involves the knowledge of nutritional science
and agroecology
, agricultural technology
, biotechnology
, genetics
etc.
like biology, whose methods and knowledge it utilizes (especially in the field of environmental
ecology
and plant physiology
), and physics, from which it acquires the research methods, especially that of physical experiment and model.
The scope of interest of agrophysics is not focused solely on technical problems from agronomy
and on practical implementation of sciences and that are aspects that makes it different from agricultural engineering
which provides grounds for classifying agrophysics as the fundamental sciences.
Physical models, closely related to biophysics, are ready to solve either global or local aspects of behaviour of the complex ecosystems to be studied, including of energy consumption, food safety
etc....
The scope of the branch starting from soil science
(physics) and originally limited to the study of relations within the soil environment, expanded over time onto influencing the properties of agricultural crops and produce as foods and raw postharvest
materials, and onto the issues of quality, safety
and labeling
concerns, considered distinct from the field of nutrition for application in food science.
A research centre that is focused on the development of the Science is the Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences
in Lublin
.
cyt: "Agrophysics, utilizing the achievements of Exact Sciences for solving major problems of Agriculture, is involved in study of materials and processes occurring in the production and processing of agricultural crops, with particular emphasis on the condition of the environment and the quality of farming materials and food productions."
Agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...
and physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
,
whose objects of study are the agroecosystem
Agroecosystem
An agroecosystem is the basic unit of study for an agroecologist, and is somewhat arbitrarily defined as a spatially and functionally coherent unit of agricultural activity, and includes the living and nonliving components involved in that unit as well as their interactions.An agroecosystem can be...
- the biological object
Physical body
In physics, a physical body or physical object is a collection of masses, taken to be one...
s, biotope
Biotope
Biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals. Biotope is almost synonymous with the term habitat, but while the subject of a habitat is a species or a population, the subject of a biotope is a biological community.It...
and biocoenosis
Biocoenosis
A biocoenosis , coined by Karl Möbius in 1877, describes the interacting organisms living together in a habitat . This term is rarely used in English, as this concept has not been popularized in Anglophone countries...
affected by human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
activity
Task
Task may refer to:* Task analysis* Task * Task , in computing, a program execution context* TASK party, a series of improvisational participatory art-related events organized by artist Oliver Herring...
, studied and described using the methods of physical science
Physical science
Physical science is an encompassing term for the branches of natural science and science that study non-living systems, in contrast to the life sciences...
s.
Agrophysics is closely related to biophysics
Biophysics
Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that uses the methods of physical science to study biological systems. Studies included under the branches of biophysics span all levels of biological organization, from the molecular scale to whole organisms and ecosystems...
, but is restricted to the biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
of the plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s, animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s, soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
and an atmosphere
Atmosphere
An atmosphere is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass, and that is held in place by the gravity of the body. An atmosphere may be retained for a longer duration, if the gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low...
involved in agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
activities and biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
. It is different from biophysics in having the necessity of taking into account the specific features of biotope
Biotope
Biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals. Biotope is almost synonymous with the term habitat, but while the subject of a habitat is a species or a population, the subject of a biotope is a biological community.It...
and biocoenosis
Biocoenosis
A biocoenosis , coined by Karl Möbius in 1877, describes the interacting organisms living together in a habitat . This term is rarely used in English, as this concept has not been popularized in Anglophone countries...
, which involves the knowledge of nutritional science
Nutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
and agroecology
Agroecology
Agroecology is the application of ecological principles to the production of food, fuel, fiber, and pharmaceuticals. The term encompasses a broad range of approaches, and is considered "a science, a movement, [and] a practice."...
, agricultural technology
Agricultural science
Agricultural science is a broad multidisciplinary field that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. -Agriculture and agricultural science:The two terms are often confused...
, biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
, genetics
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
etc.
Principles of physical sciences
Agrophysics is close to certain fundamental sciencesExact science
An exact science is any field of science capable of accurate quantitative expression or precise predictions and rigorous methods of testing hypotheses, especially reproducible experiments involving quantifiable predictions and measurements...
like biology, whose methods and knowledge it utilizes (especially in the field of environmental
Environmental science
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical and biological sciences, to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems...
ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
and plant physiology
Plant physiology
Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Closely related fields include plant morphology , plant ecology , phytochemistry , cell biology, and molecular biology.Fundamental processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, plant nutrition,...
), and physics, from which it acquires the research methods, especially that of physical experiment and model.
The scope of interest of agrophysics is not focused solely on technical problems from agronomy
Agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...
and on practical implementation of sciences and that are aspects that makes it different from agricultural engineering
Agricultural engineering
Agricultural engineering is the engineering discipline that applies engineering science and technology to agricultural production and processing...
which provides grounds for classifying agrophysics as the fundamental sciences.
Physical models, closely related to biophysics, are ready to solve either global or local aspects of behaviour of the complex ecosystems to be studied, including of energy consumption, food safety
Food safety
Food safety is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potentially severe health hazards....
etc....
Principles of history
The needs of agriculture, concerning the past experience study of the local complex soil and next plant-atmosphere systems, lay at the root of the emergnece of new branch - agrophysics dealing this with experimental physics.The scope of the branch starting from soil science
Soil science
Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the earth including soil formation, classification and mapping; physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils; and these properties in relation to the use and management of soils.Sometimes terms which...
(physics) and originally limited to the study of relations within the soil environment, expanded over time onto influencing the properties of agricultural crops and produce as foods and raw postharvest
Postharvest
In agriculture, postharvest handling is the stage of crop production immediately following harvest, including cooling, cleaning, sorting and packing. The instant a crop is removed from the ground, or separated from its parent plant, it begins to deteriorate...
materials, and onto the issues of quality, safety
Safety
Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...
and labeling
Labeling
Labeling or labelling may refer to:* Automatic label placement* Labeling , as in cartography and maps* Labelling, the act of a society using a word or phrase to describe or ostracize a person* Labeling theory, in sociology...
concerns, considered distinct from the field of nutrition for application in food science.
A research centre that is focused on the development of the Science is the Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences
Polish Academy of Sciences
The Polish Academy of Sciences, headquartered in Warsaw, is one of two Polish institutions having the nature of an academy of sciences.-History:...
in Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
.
cyt: "Agrophysics, utilizing the achievements of Exact Sciences for solving major problems of Agriculture, is involved in study of materials and processes occurring in the production and processing of agricultural crops, with particular emphasis on the condition of the environment and the quality of farming materials and food productions."
See also
- AgricultureAgricultureAgriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
- AgroecologyAgroecologyAgroecology is the application of ecological principles to the production of food, fuel, fiber, and pharmaceuticals. The term encompasses a broad range of approaches, and is considered "a science, a movement, [and] a practice."...
- GenomicsGenomicsGenomics is a discipline in genetics concerning the study of the genomes of organisms. The field includes intensive efforts to determine the entire DNA sequence of organisms and fine-scale genetic mapping efforts. The field also includes studies of intragenomic phenomena such as heterosis,...
- MetagenomicsMetagenomicsMetagenomics is the study of metagenomes, genetic material recovered directly from environmental samples. The broad field may also be referred to as environmental genomics, ecogenomics or community genomics. Traditional microbiology and microbial genome sequencing rely upon cultivated clonal cultures...
- MetabolomicsMetabolomicsMetabolomics is the scientific study of chemical processes involving metabolites. Specifically, metabolomics is the "systematic study of the unique chemical fingerprints that specific cellular processes leave behind", the study of their small-molecule metabolite profiles...
- Nitrogenomics
- Physics (Aristotle)Physics (Aristotle)The Physics of Aristotle is one of the foundational books of Western science and philosophy...
- ProteomicsProteomicsProteomics is the large-scale study of proteins, particularly their structures and functions. Proteins are vital parts of living organisms, as they are the main components of the physiological metabolic pathways of cells. The term "proteomics" was first coined in 1997 to make an analogy with...
- Soil plant atmosphere continuumSoil plant atmosphere continuumThe Soil-Plant-Atmosphere Continuum is the pathway for water moving from soil through plants to the atmosphere.The transport of water along this pathway occurs in components, variously defined among scientific disciplines:...
External links
- Agrophysical Res. Inst. Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences
- Bohdan Dobrzański Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences in Lublin
- Free Association of PMA Labs, Czech University of Agriculture, Prague
- International Agrophysics
- International Agrophysics - quarterly journal focused on applications of physics in environmental and agricultural sciences
- Polish Society of Agrophysics
- Sustainable Agriculture: Definitions and Terms