Encyclopedia of Water Science Second Edition

Abstract

Continuing and updating the Encyclopedia of Water Science over the past four years has been an exciting but daunting task. It has been exciting because the subject is so critical to life and living, and daunting because the original editors set such a high standard. As ever, water is the central focus in environmental science. In addition to all the critical factors cited in the Preface to the first edition, global warming has now become more certain so that water issues will become even more important. My goals for this new edition have been to (1) expand the number of entries along the same subject areas found in the first edition, (2) revise old entries as needed and (3) expand into new subject areas. For the latter, the main thrust has been the science of streams, not only the engineering aspects, but also the natural ones including morphology and process. The latter, fluvial geomorphology, is my own field. Presumably, future editors will also insure that their own specialty is well covered too. We have also moved into entirely new fields such as virtual water. The number of entries has increased by more than 50 percent since the first edition. There are many people to thank for making the second edition possible. First and foremost is the Editorial Advisory Board. While small in number for an undertaking of this magnitude, these people have been giants in their contributions. Not only have they recommended authors and referees and even refereed themselves, but they have also contributed fine entries, several in some cases. I want to mention in particular Mary Beth Kirkham, Andrew Goudie, Dennis Wichelns and Steve Parker without whose help this second edition would have been impossible. The second group of people who have made this possible are the authors who have given generously of their expertise and time. The third group is the referees. Usually with little or no thanks or credit, they have given of themselves to improve entries, sometimes being absolutely critical to making entries most effective. The fourth group to which I owe a debt of gratitude is the editorial team at Dekker, now Taylor and Francis. They took care of countless details and helped me stay on track. In particular, Sapna Maloor, Susan Lee, and Laura Sylvest were outstanding as my editorial assistants. They saw to contacting authors and referees, all involving thousands of e-mail exchanges. And I must than