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Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry posted by boym on 2/8/2008

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10.571J / 12.306 / 12.806J Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry

Spring 2006

Interactions between air pollution and climate. (Image courtesy of Anne Slinn.)

Course Highlights

This course features lecture notes, background readings, and home work assignments.

Course Description

This course provides an introduction to the physics and chemistry of the atmosphere, including experience with computer codes. It is intended for undergraduates and first year graduate students.

Syllabus

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Prerequisites

Physical Chemistry (5.61), Advanced Calculus for Engineers (18.075), or permission of instructor. This course is intended for undergraduates and first year graduate students.

Description

This course provides an introduction to the physics and chemistry of the atmosphere including experience with computer codes, aerosols and theories of their formation, evolution, and removal. Topics covered include, gas and aerosol transport from urban to continental scales, coupled models of radiation, transport, and chemistry, solution of inverse problems to deduce emissions and removal rates, emissions control technology and costs, and applications to air pollution and climate.

Textbook and Readings

This course has no required text. The following optional text can be used as a supplement to the course notes:

Seinfeld, J. H., and S. N. Pandis. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics: From Air Pollution to Climate Change. New York, NY: Wiley-Interscience, 1997. ISBN: 9780471178163. (Paperback.)

Additional references organized by topics are listed in the readings section.

Grading

Grading criteria.
ACTIVITIES	PERCENTAGES
Problem Sets	30%
Critical Review of an Atmospheric Science Paper	20%
Take Home Exam in Final Two Weeks	50%

Calendar

Instructors

M = Prof. Gregory Mcrae
P = Prof. Ronald Prinn

Course calendar.
Lec #	TOPICS	INSTRUCTORS	KEY DATES
1	Introduction, Properties of the Atmosphere	P, M
2	Combustion Sources and Stoichiometry	M
3	Chemical Thermodynamics/Kinetics	M
4	Radiative Transfer and Photochemistry	M
5	Tropospheric Chemistry: CO	M
6	Tropospheric Chemistry: NOx and Ozone	M
7	Tropospheric Chemistry: HCHO and Ozone	M	Problem set 1 out
8	Tropospheric Chemistry: Complex Hydrocarbons	M
9-10	Atmospheric Chemistry and Transport: Continuity Equation	P	Problem set 1 due in Lec #9
11	Atmospheric Chemical Transport Models: Basic Structures	P
12-14	Tropospheric Chemistry: Homogeneous Processes	M
15-16	Air Pollution Controls	M	Problem set 2 out in Lec #15
17	Integrated Assessment of Air Pollution	M	Problem set 2 due
18	Atmospheric Transport Models: Numerical Integration	P
19	Incorporating Chemical and Physical Processes in Models	P
20-21	Atmospheric Chemical Transport Models: Examples	P	Take-home exam out
22	Atmospheric Chemistry: Measurement Systems/Estimation	P
23	Inverse Methods: Optimal Estimation	P
24	Inverse Methods: Statistical Methods	P	Take-home exam due
25-27	Inverse Methods: Examples	P

Readings

This course has no required text. The optional reference ( Seinfeld, J. H., and S. N. Pandis. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics: From Air Pollution to Climate Change. New York, NY: Wiley-Interscience, 1997. ISBN: 9780471178163. (Paperback.)) can be used as a supplement to the course notes. Below are a selection of additional references organized by topics to be covered in class.

Aerosol Physics

Friedlander, S. K. Smoke, Dust, and Haze: Fundamentals of Aerosol Dynamics. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN: 9780195129991.

Pruppacher, H. R., and J. D. Klett. Microphysics of Clouds and Precipitation. Dordrecht, Holland: D. Reidel Publishing Company, 1980. ISBN: 9789027711069.

Combustion

Glassman, I. Combustion. 3rd ed. Burlington, MA: Academic Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780122858529.

Heywood, J. Internal Combustion Engine Fundamentals. 2nd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math, 1988. ISBN: 9780070286375.

Kuo, K. K-Y. Principles of Combustion. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Wiley-Interscience, 2005. ISBN: 9780471046899.

Poinsot, T., and D. Veynante. Theoretical and Numerical Combustion. 2nd ed. Flourtown, PA: R. T. Edwards, Inc., 2005. ISBN: 9781930217102.

Stone, R. Introduction to Internal Combustion Engines. 3rd ed. Warrendale, PA: SAE International, 1999. ISBN: 9780768004953.

Taylor, C. F. Internal Combustion Engine in Theory and Practice: Vol. 2 - 2nd Edition, Revised: Combustion, Fuels, Materials, Design. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1985. ISBN: 9780262700276.

Warnatz, J., U. Maas, and R. W. Dibble. Combustion: Physical and Chemical Fundamentals, Modeling and Simulation, Experiments, Pollutant Formation. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag, 2001. ISBN: 9783540677512.

Williams, F. A. Combustion Theory the Fundamental Theory of Chemically Reacting Flow Systems. 2nd ed. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1985. ISBN: 9780201407778.

Atmospheric Chemistry

Brimblecombe, P. Air Composition and Chemistry. 2nd ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780521453660.

Hobbs, P. V. Introduction to Atmospheric Chemistry. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2000a. ISBN: 9780521778008.

———. Basic Physical Chemistry for the Atmospheric Sciences. 2nd ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2000b. ISBN: 9780521785679.

Jacob, D. Introduction to Atmospheric Chemistry. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999. ISBN: 9780691001852.

Finlayson-Pitts B. J., and Jr. J. N. Pitts. Chemistry of the Upper and Lower Atmosphere. Burlington, MA: Academic Press, 1999. ISBN: 9780122570605.

einfeld, J. H., and S. N. Pandis. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics: From Air Pollution to Climate Change. New York, NY: Wiley-Interscience, 1997. ISBN: 9780471178163.

Warneck, P. Chemistry of the Natural Atmosphere. Burlington, MA: Academic Press, Inc., 1988. ISBN: 9780127356303.

Wayne, R. P. Chemistry of Atmospheres. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN: 9780198503750.

Atmospheric Physics

Andrews, D. G. An Introduction to Atmospheric Physics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2000. ISBN: 9780521629584.

Arya, S. P. Air Pollution Meteorology and Dispersion. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780195073980.

Bohren, C. F., and B. A. Albrecht. Atmospheric Thermodynamics. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780195099041.

Garratt, J. R. The Atmospheric Boundary Layer (Cambridge Atmospheric and SpaceScience Series). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994. ISBN: 9780521467452.

Gill, A. E. Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics (International Geophysics Series). Vol. 30. Burlington, MA: Academic Press, 1982. ISBN: 9780122835223.

Holton, J. R. An Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology (International Geophysics Series). 4th ed. Vol. 88. Burlington, MA: Academic Press, 2004. ISBN: 9780123540157.

Houze, R. A., Jr. Cloud Dynamics (International Geophysics Series). Reprint ed. Vol. 53. Burlington, MA: Academic Press, 1994. ISBN: 9780123568816.

Hsu, S-A. Coastal Meteorology (International Geophysics Series). Burlington, MA: Academic Press, 1988. ISBN: 9780123579553.

Pedlosky, J. Geophysical Fluid Dynamics. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Springer, 1992. ISBN: 9780387963877.

Petty, G. W. A First Course in Atmospheric Radiation. Madison, WI: Sundog Publishing, 2004. ISBN: 09729033.

Stull, R. B. An Introduction to Boundary Layer Meteorology (Atmospheric and Oceanographic Sciences Library). New York, NY: Springer, 1988. ISBN: 9789027727695.

Tsonis, A. A. An Introduction to Atmospheric Thermodynamics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780521796767.

Wallace, J. M. Atmospheric Science: An Introductory Survey. Burlington, MA: Academic Press, 1977. ISBN: 9780127329505.

Yau, M. K. Short Course in Cloud Physics (International Series in Natural Philosophy). 3rd ed. Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1989. ISBN: 9780750632157.

Air Pollution Control Technology

Flagan, R. C., and J. H. Seinfeld. Fundamentals of Air Pollution Engineering. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1988. ISBN: 9780133325379.

Heinsohn, R. J., and R. L. Kabel. Sources and Control of Air Pollution. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998. ISBN: 9780136248347.

Perry, R. H., and D. W. Green. Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook. 7th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1997. ISBN: 9780070498419.

Atmospheric Visibility and Radiative Transfer Processes

Bohren, C. F., and E. E. Clothiaux. Fundamentals of Atmospheric Radiation: An Introduction with 400 Problems. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, 2006. ISBN: 9783527405039.

Chandrasekhar, S. Radiative Transfer. New York, NY: Dover Publications, 1960. ISBN: 9780486605906.

Goody, R. M., and Y. L. Yung. Atmospheric Radiation: Theoretical Basis. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1995. ISBN: 9780195102918.

Liou, K. N. An Introduction to Atmospheric Radiation (International Geophysics). 2nd ed. Vol. 84. Burlington, MA: Academic Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780124514515.

Petty, G. W. A First Course in Atmospheric Radiation. Madison, WI: Sundog Publishing, 2004. ISBN: 9780972903301.

van de Hulst, H. C. Light Scattering by Small Particles (Structure of Matter Series). New York, NY: Dover Publications, 1981. ISBN: 9780486642284.

Inverse Methods

Bennett, A. F. Inverse Methods in Physical Oceanography. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1992. ISBN: 9780521385688.

Daley, R. Atmospheric Data Analysis. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1991. ISBN: 9780521382151.

Menke, W. Geophysical Data Analysis: Discrete Inverse Theory (International Geophysics Series). Vol. 45. Burlington, MA: Academic Press, Inc., 1989. ISBN: 9780124909212.

Parker, R. L. Geophysical Inverse Theory. Princeton University Press, 1994. ISBN: 9780691036342.

Wunsch, C. The Ocean Circulation Inverse Problem. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780521480901.

Scientific Journals

Some of the key scientific journals containing articles related to atmospheric chemistry and air pollution are:

Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association

Atmospheric Environment (Search for Atmospheric Environment)

Environmental Science and Technology

Journal of Geophysical Research

In addition to the above journals, Science and Nature occasionally have articles related to climate change.

Organizations Concerned with Air Pollution

There are numerous organizations that are concerned with air pollution issues. In the United States two of the most important regulatory agencies are:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)

The California Air Resources Board (CARB)