Principal Teaching Responsibilities - Prof Rod Smith

ENV3104 Hydraulics II

Rod is examiner of Hydraulics II which is taken by agricultural, civil and environmental engineers in Semester 1 of their 3rd year. The unit is available in both the on-campus (D) and distance (X) modes.

The emphasis of this unit is the application of hydraulic theory to the solution of problems commonly encountered in engineering hydraulics and to the design of hydraulic systems and structures.

The basic concepts of the conservation of mass, momentum and energy (introduced in ENV2103 Hydraulics I) are reviewed, extended and applied to a variety of hydraulic systems. New material on unsteady pipeline and open channel flows, loose boundary hydraulics and coastal hydraulics is presented and applied. Students are practised in the design and analysis of open channel, pipeline and pumping systems and a wide range of hydraulic structures.

ENV4106 Irrigation Science

The control of the application of water to land (irrigation) and the removal of surplus water from land (drainage) is critical to much of Australia's agriculture. This unit will provide the skills necessary for the design and management of effective and efficient on farm irrigation systems. Irrigation application methods (current and proposed) are studied with an emphasis on the evaluation and optimization of performance, and with the theory reinforced by irrigation practical sessions. Efficient irrigation also requires an appreciation of the physical processes of the entry, storage and redistribution of water in soils; the uptake of water by plants (including limitations caused by soil salinization); evaporation of water directly into the atmosphere; and evaporation through plants as transpiration (evapotranspiration). The unit will also show students that the long term viability of irrigation is dependent upon the provisions of adequate surface and subsurface drainage. Finally the unit attempts to apply all of the above skills in the planning and design of whole farm irrigation systems.

Irrigation Science is taken by agricultural and environmental engineers in the 3rd year of their course. Rod is examiner in this unit and shares the teaching with  Joseph Foley who specialises in pressurised irrigation and Assoc Prof Nigel Hancock who takes the modules on micrometeorology, evaporation and crop water use.