Meetpal S. Kukal, Ph.D.
- Assistant Research Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
University Park, PA 16802
- Email msk5779@psu.edu
- Office 814-865-7423
Areas of Expertise
- Agricultural water management & agrohydrology
- Irrigation science, management, & engineering
- Sense & model water fluxes in soil-plant-atmospheric continuum
- Evapotranspiration & its physiological and environmental controls
- Precision water & nutrient management
- Agricultural resource (water, radiation, nutrient) use efficiency
- Agrometeorology; Climate sensitivity & resiliency of ag systems
- GIS & Remote Sensing applications in agricultural & natural resources
Websites
Education
- Ph.D. Biological Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2019
- M.S. Ag & Biological Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2015
- B.Tech. Agricultural Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, Punjab, 2013
Publications
Atmospheric dryness impacts on crop yields are buffered in soils with higher available water capacity
Geoderma, Kukal, M. S., Irmak, S., Dobos, R., Gupta, S., 2023
Effect of water stress on weed germination, growth characteristics, and seed production: a global meta-analysis
Weed Science, Singh, Mandeep, Thapa, Resham, Kukal, Meetpal Singh, Irmak, Suat, Mirsky, Steven, Jhala, Amit J., 2022
Automated real-time irrigation analytics inform diversity in regional irrigator behavior and water withdrawal and use characteristics
Agricultural Water Management, Irmak, Suat, Brar, Dilshad, Kukal, Meetpal S., Odhiambo, Lameck, Djaman, Koffi, 2022
Spatial Patterns and Magnitudes of Agriculturally Pertinent Climate Indicators across Agroecosystems in Türkiye
Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, Irmak, Suat, Kukal, Meetpal S., Topcu, Sevilay, 2022
Alteration in surface energy balance fluxes induced from long-term disk-tilled versus no-till management in maize production
Soil and Tillage Research, Irmak, Suat, Kukal, Meetpal S., 2022
Nocturnal transpiration in field crops: Implications for temporal aggregation and diurnal weighing of vapor pressure deficit
Agricultural Water Management, Kukal, Meetpal S., Irmak, Suat, 2022
Maize response to coupled irrigation and nitrogen fertilization under center pivot, subsurface drip and surface (furrow) irrigation: Growth, development and productivity
Agricultural Water Management, Irmak, Suat, Mohammed, Ali T., Kukal, Meetpal S., 2022
Multi-model projections of trade-offs between irrigated and rainfed maize yields under changing climate and future emission scenarios
Agricultural Water Management, Irmak, S., Sandhu, R., Kukal, M. S., 2022
Water Use Characteristics of Weeds: A Global Review, Best Practices, and Future Directions
Frontiers in Plant Science, Singh, Mandeep, Kukal, Meetpal Singh, Irmak, Suat, Jhala, Amit J., 2022
Evapotranspiration, Transpiration, and Evaporation Processes and Modeling in the Soil–Residue–Canopy System
Modeling Processes and Their Interactions in Cropping Systems: Challenges for the 21st Century, First Edition. Edited by Lajpat R. Ahuja, Kurt C. Kersebaum and Ole Wendroth. American Society of Agronomy/Crop Science Society of America/Soil Science Society of America, Irmak, S, Kukal, Meetpal, 2022
Multi-model projections of trade-offs between irrigated and rainfed maize yields under changing climate and future emission scenarios
Agricultural Water Management, Irmak, S, Sandhu, R, Kukal, Meetpal, 2022
Minimizing pitfalls and ensuring success with irrigation-decision technology
Irrigation Today Fall 2022, Kukal, Meetpal, 2022
Alteration in Surface Energy Balance Fluxes Induced from Long-Term Disk-Tilled versus No-Till Management in Maize Production
Soil and Tillage Research, Irmak, S, Kukal, Meetpal, 2022
Soil Moisture Heterogeneity and Sensor Deployment in Uniformly Managed Field with Unitextural Soil
Agronomy Journal, Irmak, S, Kukal, Meetpl, Sharma, Kiran, 2022
Water Use Characteristics of Weeds: A Global Review, Best Practices, and Future Directions.
Frontiers in plant science, Singh, Mandeep, Kukal, Meetpal, Irmak, S, Jhala, Amit, 2022
Soil moisture heterogeneity and sensor deployment in uniformly managed field with unitextural soil
Journal of Production Agriculture, Irmak, Suat, Kukal, Meetpal S., Sharma, Kiran, 2022
Growth phase-specific evaporative demand and nighttime temperatures determine Maize (Zea Mays L.) yield deviations as revealed from a long-term field experiment
Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Singh, Arshdeep, Kukal, Meetpal S., Shapiro, Charles A., Snow, Daniel D., Irmak, Suat, Iqbal, Javed, 2021
Evaluation of soil moisture sensing technologies in silt loam and loamy sand soils: Assessment of performance, temperature sensitivity, and site-And sensor-specific calibration functions
Transactions of the ASABE, Sharma, Kiran, Irmak, S, Kukal, Meetpal, Vuran, Mehmet, Jhala, Amit, Qiao, Xin, 2021
Propagation of soil moisture sensing uncertainty into estimation of total soil water, evapotranspiration and irrigation decision-making
Agricultural Water Management, Sharma, Kiran, Irmak, Suat, Kukal, Meetpal S., 2021
Spatio-temporal calibration of Hargreaves-Samani model to estimate reference evapotranspiration across U.S. High Plains
Journal of Production Agriculture, Kukal, M. S., Irmak, S., Walia, H., Odhiambo, L., 2020
Impact of irrigation on interannual variability in United States agricultural productivity
Agricultural Water Management, Kukal, M. S., Irmak, S., 2020
Light interactions, use and efficiency in row crop canopies under optimal growth conditions
Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Kukal, M. S., Irmak, S., 2020
Evidence of arithmetical uncertainty in estimation of light and water use effciency
Sustainability (Switzerland), Kukal, Meetpal S., Irmak, Suat, 2020
Characterization of water use and productivity dynamics across four C3 and C4 row crops under optimal growth conditions
Agricultural Water Management, Kukal, M. S., Irmak, S., 2020
Development and application of a performance and operational feasibility guide to facilitate adoption of soil moisture sensors
Sustainability (Switzerland), Kukal, Meetpal S., Irmak, Suat, Sharma, Kiran, 2020
Interrelationships between water use efficiency and light use efficiency in four row crop canopies
Agrosystems, Geosciences and Environment, Kukal, Meetpal S., Irmak, Suat, 2020
Evaluation of soil moisture sensing technologies in silt loam and loamy sand soils: Assessment of performance, temperature sensitivity, and site- And sensor-specific calibration functions
Transactions of the ASABE, Sharma, K., Irmak, S., Kukal, M. S., Vuran, M. C., Jhala, A., Qiao, X., 2020
Disk-till vs. no-till maize grass- and alfalfa-reference single (average) and basal (dual) crop coefficients
Agricultural Water Management, Irmak, Suat, Kukal, Meetpal S., 2019
Comparative canopy growth dynamics in four row crops and their relationships with allometric and environmental determinants
Journal of Production Agriculture, Kukal, M. S., Irmak, S., 2019
Disk-till vs. no-till maize evapotranspiration, microclimate, grain yield, production functions and water productivity
Agricultural Water Management, Irmak, Suat, Kukal, Meetpal S., Mohammed, Ali T., Djaman, Koffi, 2019
Characterization of Water Use and Efficiency Dynamics across Four C3 and C4 Row Crops under Optimal Growth Conditions, Kukal, Meetpal, Irmak, S, 2019
Coupled Water and Light Use and Efficiency in Four Row Crops under Optimal Growth Conditions, Kukal, Meetpal, 2019
Irrigation-limited yield gaps: Trends and variability in the united states post-1950
Environmental Research Communications, Kukal, Meetpal S., Irmak, Suat, 2019
Climate-Driven Crop Yield and Yield Variability and Climate Change Impacts on the U.S. Great Plains Agricultural Production
Scientific Reports, Kukal, Meetpal S., Irmak, Suat, 2018
U.S. Agro-Climate in 20th Century: Growing Degree Days, First and Last Frost, Growing Season Length, and Impacts on Crop Yields
Scientific Reports, Kukal, Meetpal S., Irmak, Suat, 2018
Patterns and Magnitudes of Spatial and Temporal Changes in Precipitation and Aridity Across 800 Great Plains Counties, Kukal, Meetpal, Irmak, S, 2018
Long-term spatial and temporal maize and soybean evapotranspiration trends derived from ground-based and satellite-based datasets over the great plains
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering - ASCE, Kukal, Meetpal, Irmak, Suat, Kilic, Ayse, 2017
Spatial and temporal changes in maize and soybean grain yield, precipitation use efficiency, and crop water productivity in the U.S. great plains
Transactions of the ASABE, Kukal, M., Irmak, S., 2017
Long-term patterns of air temperatures, daily temperature range, precipitation, grass-reference evapotranspiration and aridity index in the USA Great Plains: Part I. Spatial trends
Journal of Hydrology, Kukal, M., Irmak, S., 2016
Observed Space and Time Changes in Air Temperatures and Daily Temperature Range for the Counties in the US Great Plains from 1968 to 2013, Kukal, Meetpal, Irmak, S, 2016
Long-term patterns of air temperatures, daily temperature range, precipitation, grass-reference evapotranspiration and aridity index in the USA great plains: Part II. Temporal trends
Journal of Hydrology, Kukal, Meetpal, Irmak, S., 2016
Quantification of spatio-temporal changes in climate variables, evapotranspiration and crop water productivity for maize and soybean in the Great Plains, USA, Kukal, Meetpal, 2015
Standardization of Automated Vario EL III CHNS Analyzer for Total Carbon and Nitrogen Determination in Plants
Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, Dhaliwal, G. S., Gupta, N., Kukal, S. S., Meetpal-Singh, , 2014