ATM 405/505 AIR QUALITY
(3-0) 3 credits. Prerequisites: Math 125 or equivalent and one semester of
college chemistry. Up-to-date problems and trends in urban air quality, global
effects of environmental pollution, effects of air pollutants on weather
processes, the technology of pollutant production, and pollutant dispersal. A
treatment of the chemistry and physics of reactions involving primary air
pollutants is included. Satisfies the Earth Systems distribution requirement for
the ATM M.S. program. Students enrolled in ATM 505 will be held to a higher
standard than those enrolled in ATM 405.
Dr. Andy Detwiler
Dept. Atmospheric Sciences
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Rapid City, SD 57701
Phone: (605) 394-1995
Fax: (605) 394-6061
Email: Andrew.Detwiler@sdsmt.edu
For the Spring, 2008, semester, we will meet on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, at 11 AM MT in Chemistry Building Room 303 on the SDSMT campus. Classes will follow a lecture/discussion format, with instructor and students contributing to the learning process. There occasionally will be guest presenters from the local and state community of air quality workers. Students will be making presentations in-class through the semester.
During most weeks there will be homework assignments so we can solidify our progress as we cover the fairly wide range of topics we have in our syllabus this spring. These assignments will involve reading, preparing short essays on various questions and topics, and solving problems involving thought and calculation. Work will be collected, reviewed, and returned to students with comments and sometimes a grade. Use of computational tools, including calculators and computer software packages such as Excel, MathCad, MatLab, IDL, Mathematica, etc., is encouraged, as is the use of computer document processing software, in preparation of problem and essay assignments.
There will be midterm and final exams. The midterm is scheduled for
the normal class meeting time on Wednesday, March 12. The final exam will be
2:00-3:50 PM MT on Thursday, May 8..
The final course grade will be determined 1/4 by in-class presentations and participation, 1/4 by completion of homework, 1/4 by the mid-term, and 1/4 by the final. The successful student will demonstrate mastery of the material covered this semester by attending class regularly, participating in class discussions, completing homework assignments successfully in a timely manner (and reworking those assignments that were not successfully completed on the first attempt), and responding to examination questions correctly in a clear and concise manner.
Academic policies governing this class are presented in the 2007-2008
SDSMT catalog .
The text for the Spring, 2008, semester is: Atmospheric Pollution by Mark Z. Jacobson.
The book was published in 2002 by University Press, Cambridge. The paperback edition is identified by ISBN
0-521-01044-6, and is available from the SDSMT bookstore http://www.sdsmtbookstore.com .
We will cover much of the material in the text this semester, and this material will be augmented in spots with information from other sources. We will not follow a rigid schedule as we progress through the syllabus, but the goal is to follow this rough schedule below, based on the organization of the text. Some topics will be covered in more depth than others depending in the interests of the students and instructor.
Office Hours will be Tuesday and Thursday mornings, from 9 to 11 AM, or by appointment
Successful completion of this course will require approximately 135 hours of student effort during the semester, including time spent in class.