Modeling Contaminant Transport in Rivers and Waterways

Environmental engineers and hydrologists must accurately predict how substances—whether dye markers or harmful pollutants—move through water bodies. Understanding these transport processes is critical for public safety and resource management. This course provides a foundational understanding of river hydraulics and environmental transport modeling. You will learn the theoretical basis for advection, dispersion, and reaction kinetics, enabling you to set up and analyze simple one-dimensional models for predicting contaminant spread in rivers. What you'll learn: * Understand the fundamental principles of fluid flow and mass conservation in natural waterways. * Analyze the roles of advection and hydrodynamic dispersion in moving and spreading substances in rivers. * Apply mass balance equations to derive simple one-dimensional models for reactive and non-reactive solute transport. * Practice interpreting environmental tracer study data, such as dye releases, to estimate flow characteristics. * Configure basic computational frameworks for solving time-dependent transport problems using numerical methods. The course begins with essential terminology and definitions of river dynamics before moving into the mathematical framework of transport processes. We then explore how to apply these concepts to practical scenarios, culminating in setting up basic predictive models. This course is designed for absolute beginners interested in civil engineering, hydrology, or environmental science. No prior experience in environmental modeling or advanced mathematics is required. Start reading today and learn how to track the unseen movement beneath the surface.