Environmental Transport Processes: Fundamentals of Pollutant Movement

Understanding how contaminants migrate through our air, waterways, and soil is critical for solving modern environmental challenges. This text-only course provides a clear, foundational guide to the physical processes governing the transport and fate of chemicals in the environment. You will transition from understanding basic environmental science to analyzing pollutant behavior using core engineering principles, gaining the analytical skills needed to assess environmental contamination and design effective remediation strategies. What you'll learn: - Understand the fundamental mechanisms of advection, molecular diffusion, and turbulent dispersion. - Analyze how pollutants transport through surface waters, groundwater, and the atmosphere. - Apply mass balance equations to model chemical concentration changes over time. - Evaluate the impact of boundary conditions and environmental barriers on contaminant plume movement. - Explore modern tracking techniques and digital modeling concepts used in environmental engineering today. The course begins with essential terminology, basic physical concepts, and the chemistry of environmental interfaces. From there, you will progress through structured written explanations, practical examples, and step-by-step derivations of transport equations. This course is designed for beginners in civil engineering, environmental science, or public health who want a solid grasp of transport phenomena without requiring advanced fluid dynamics prerequisites. Start reading today to build your foundational expertise in environmental fluid mechanics and pollutant transport.