Dielectric Properties of Agricultural Materials and Their Applications provides an understanding of the fundamental principles governing dielectric properties of materials, describes methods for measuring such properties, and discusses many applications explored for solving industry problems. The information in this reference stimulates new research for solving problems associated with production, handling, and processing of agricultural and food products. Anyone seeking a better understanding of dielectric properties of materials and application of radio-frequency and microwave electromagnetic energy for solution of problems in agriculture and related fields will find this an essential resource. - Presents applications of dielectric properties for sensing moisture in grain and seed and the use of such properties in radio-frequency and microwave dielectric heating of agricultural materials - Offers information for finding correlations between dielectric properties and quality attributes such as sweetness in melons, or other desired characteristics of agricultural products - Identifies conditions for selective dielectric heating of materials such as insects in grain or biological organisms in soils - Provides a solid understanding of dielectric properties and the variables that influence these properties

This Encyclopedia of Agrophysics will provide up-to-date information on the physical properties and processes affecting the quality of the environment and plant production. It will be a "first-up" volume which will nicely complement the recently published Encyclopedia of Soil Science, (November 2007) which was published in the same series. In a single authoritative volume a collection of about 250 informative articles and ca 400 glossary terms covering all aspects of agrophysics will be presented. The authors will be renowned specialists in various aspects in agrophysics from a wide variety of countries. Agrophysics is important both for research and practical use not only in agriculture, but also in areas like environmental science, land reclamation, food processing etc. Agrophysics is a relatively new interdisciplinary field closely related to Agrochemistry, Agrobiology, Agroclimatology and Agroecology. Nowadays it has been fully accepted as an agricultural and environmental discipline. As such this Encyclopedia volume will be an indispensable working tool for scientists and practitioners from different disciplines, like agriculture, soil science, geosciences, environmental science, geography, and engineering.

The increasing demand for electronic devices for private and industrial purposes lead designers and researchers to explore new electronic devices and circuits that can perform several tasks efficiently with low IC area and low power consumption. In addition, the increasing demand for portable devices intensifies the call from industry to design sensor elements, an efficient storage cell, and large capacity memory elements. Several industry-related issues have also forced a redesign of basic electronic components for certain specific applications. The researchers, designers, and students working in the area of electronic devices, circuits, and materials sometimesneed standard examples with certain specifications. This breakthrough work presents this knowledge of standard electronic device and circuit design analysis, including advanced technologies and materials. This outstanding new volume presents the basic concepts and fundamentals behind devices, circuits, and systems. It is a valuable reference for the veteran engineer and a learning tool for the student, the practicing engineer, or an engineer from another field crossing over into electrical engineering. It is a must-have for any library.

This book comprises the proceedings of the 12th National Technical Symposium on Unmanned System Technology 2020 (NUSYS’20) held on October 27–28, 2020. It covers a number of topics, including intelligent robotics, novel sensor technology, control algorithms, acoustics signal processing, imaging techniques, biomimetic robots, green energy sources, and underwater communication backbones and protocols, and it appeals to researchers developing marine technology solutions and policy-makers interested in technologies to facilitate the exploration of coastal and oceanic regions.

Precision agriculture integrates new technologies with the agronomic experience to intelligently manage the high spatial variability of all agricultural variables and the time scales at which these variables change. The right application of this approach increases the size and quality of the agricultural production; saves resources; improves environmental quality; helps to achieve self-sufficiency, food security, and agricultural sustainability; increases exports; and more. Precision Agriculture Technologies for Food Security and Sustainability is an essential reference source that compiles a comprehensive, multidisciplinary review of current research in the field of precision agriculture. It also discusses cutting-edge tools and models that can help facilitate and improve the systems implementation. Featuring coverage of a wide range of topics including agronomy, public policy, and internet of things, this book is ideally designed for agriculturalists, government officials, economists, environmentalists, academicians, researchers, students, and engineers in the fields of electronics, ICT, and agriculture.

This book presents the outcomes of the second edition of the International Conference on Intelligent Computing and Optimization (ICO) – ICO 2019, which took place on October 3–4, 2019, in Koh Samui, Thailand. Bringing together research scholars, experts, and investigators from around the globe, the conference provided a platform to share novel research findings, recent advances and innovative applications in the field. Discussing the need for smart disciplinary processes embedded into interdisciplinary collaborations in the context of meeting the growing global populations’ requirements, such as food and health care, the book highlights the role of intelligent computation and optimization as key technologies in decision-making processes and in providing cutting edge solutions to real-world problems.

Drying and storage are two significant unit operations in the food industry and are applied to both raw and processed products including cereal grains, oilseeds, legumes, flour, noodle, coffee, and cornstarch. The common characteristic of these materials is that all of them are hygroscopic and contain water. The hygroscopic properties are influenced by their physical properties, which are influenced by their storage environments such as bins, warehouses, bunkers, and temporary storage structures. This book focuses on the storage and drying of bulk products in these storage structures. On many occasions in our work with the grain storage and drying personnel especially our graduate students and industry contacts, we found a book explaining the fundamental principles of grain storage and drying is needed. Therefore, the primary objective of this book is to help readers understand the fundamental principles of grain storage and drying and develop a well-informed approach to solve grain storage and drying problems. Technologies for grain storage and drying are advanced through research; therefore, literature review and background on each topic has also been included. The book is generally intended for grain storage and drying students, engineers, and scientists. As reflected in the contents which are presented at several levels of depth, this book will serve well readers with different backgrounds and interests. An effort has been made to allow for independent reading of different sections, and to make a large part of this work accessible to a non-mathematical audience. The authors have combined their experience of teaching grain storage and drying to undergraduate and graduate students in the faculties of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Engineering. Material in the book is organized into broad topic areas: physical properties (Chapters 1 and 2), grain temperature and moisture (Chapters 2 and 6), water in biomaterials and relationship with its environment (Chapter 3), fundamental principles of aeration, drying, and rewetting (Chapter 4), and mathematical modelling of isotherm, drying, and re-wetting (Chapter 5). We hope our readers will benefit from the contents of the book for many decades.

Mformation about a material can be gathered from its interaction with electromagnetic waves. The information may be stored in the amplitude, the phase, the polarisation, the angular distribution of energy transportation or the spectral characteristics. When re trieved from the wave, certain material properties may thus be determined indirectly. Compared on the one hand to direct material analysis, an indirect method requires calibration and is prone to interference from undesired sources. On the other hand, however, it permits the determination of features inaccessible by direct methods, such as non-destructive material interrogation, high measurement speed, or deep penetration depth. However, being a physical method, the use of electromagnetic waves is still handicapped by the lack of acceptance by many chemists, who are used to applying direct approaches. Historically, the first application of electromagnetic wave interaction with mat ter involved measurement of amplitude changes at a single frequency caused by material properties, and it is still used today by some systems. This approach was soon supplemented by single frequency phase measurements, in order to avoid distortions through amplitude instabilities or parasitic reflections. Such single pa rameter measurements of course require dependence only on one variable in the measured process and sufficient stability of all other ancillary conditions. If that is not the case, the single parameter measurement fails.

This book offers an up-to-date overview of the concepts, modeling, technical and technological details and practical applications of different types of sensors, and discusses the trends of next generation of sensors and systems for environmental and food engineering. This book is aimed at researchers, graduate students, academics and industry professionals working in the field of environmental and food engineering, environmental monitoring, precision agriculture and food quality control.