Course:

Surface Water Quality Modeling - ES 650 – Fall 2001

Instructor:

Dr. Michael Robinson, P.E.

205C Gullickson Hall

304 696 6049 (office)

304 696 5454 (fax)

robinsonm@marshall.edu

Course Website and Listserve:

A course website and listserve are available for this course. All assignments will be posted on the website and can be accessed from the site. In addition, a listserve is available to post questions and comments.

Website URL: http://webpages.marshall.edu/~robinsonm/

Listserve: surfacewater-list@marshall.edu

Text:

Surface Water-Quality Modeling, (1997) by Steven C. Chapra

Supplemental Text - Additional reading material may be assigned.

Course Description:

This course is an introduction to surface water quality modeling. The course will focus on modeling (predicting) the environmental behavior of contaminants in surface waters (lakes, streams, rivers, and perhaps estuaries). Background material on mathematics, numerical methods, reaction kinetics, diffusion, fluid mechanics, and surface water hydrology will be reviewed. Several water quality models, including QUAL2E, will be utilized throughout the course.

Grade Policy:

The class grade will be based on your performance on the following:

Exams 200 points (100 points each exam)

Final Exam 100 points

Out-of-class assignments 200 points

In-class assignments 20 points

Final class grade will be determined based on percentage of total points earned with the following criteria:

A 90 - 100 %

B 80 - 89 %

C 70 - 79 %

Class assignments, examinations, and participation:

Students are expected to read the assigned material prior to the lecture and to participate in class discussions. Certain material assigned as required reading may not be covered within the planned lecture. Students are encouraged to review the current literature and bring relevant material to class for discussion.

Homework is to be completed in a professional manner and submitted within the assigned deadline (at the beginning of class). Homework submitted late will incur a 10% penalty per day overdue. If you can not attend a lecture to submit homework, you may fax or email the homework.

Students are encouraged to interact with each other to better understand the homework problems. However, the final product must be your own work. In most cases homework will be returned the following class period. Homework problems may be solved using mathematical software (MathCAD, MATLAB, Excel) but sufficient notation (comments and equations) must be provided to permit evaluation of your work.

Exams will be given in-class on the scheduled dates. Exams missed due to a scheduled absence will be rescheduled. Exams missed due to an unscheduled absence will be rescheduled at the option of the instructor.

Attendance Policy:

Attendance is required and strongly recommended, as you are responsible for all material discussed in class. Students are encouraged to bring textbook to all classes as figures and diagrams in the text will be referenced frequently during lectures.

Academic Dishonesty:

Issues of academic dishonesty will be handled as specified in the Graduate Catalog.

Course Calendar/Schedule:

Course schedule is tentative and subject to change depending upon the progress and interests of the class. The course calendar and assignments can be found on the course web page.