AOSC 433/633 & CHEM 433 Atmospheric Chemistry & Climate
Instructor: Ross Salawitch
Teaching Assistants: Austin Hope & Tim Vinciguerra
Tues-Thurs, 2:00 to 3:15 pm, CSS 2416
Spring 2015: 3 units
Required Text:
Chemistry in Context: Applying Chemistry to Society
7th edition, American Chemical Society
Supplemental Text:
Global Warming: The Complete Briefing (third edition) by John Houghton
The Atmospheric Environment by Michael B. McElroy
Beyond Oil and Gas: The Methanol Economy by George A. Olah, Alain Goeppert, and G. K. Surya Prakash
Readings from Supplemental Text will be assigned via password protected files posted below. These files are to be used only for this course.
Notes:
1) We have decided to use the 7th edition of Chemistry in Context rather than the new 8th edition because of student cost (there are hundreds of used copies of the 7th edition available on Amazon for under $20; there is no used copy market for the 8th edition) and Ross actually helped write the 7th edition. Students have two options: they can rent a copy of the book from Ross for a deposit of $20, fully refundable upon return of the book at the end of the semester. Or you may purchase a copy of the 7th edition of Chemistry in Context via Amazon or some other on-line vendor. Local bookstores are required to have a shelf price of ~$100 for the used version of this book; as a result we have decided to not place book orders with these street and mortar book sellers. We do not have enough copies of this book for everyone to obtain via rental; these will be made available on a first come, first served basis, with undergraduates given preference over graduate students if we simply can not fill the demand.
2) You may find the following web-based resources helpful:
i) all lectures will be video recorded and posted below
Students are expected to attend lecture! This resource is provided to assist students with occasional inability to attend class, and to help students review lectures, particularly for exam preparation. We reserve the right to suspend video recording if lecture attendance becomes markedly lower than prior years.
ii) all emails sent to the entire class will be archived at the following Google Groups page:
http://groups.google.com/group/atmospheric-chemistry-and-climate-2015
We hope all students will read emails as they are sent in the normal manner. This URL will provide an archive of all email sent to the entire class during the semester. We have set up this group so that contents are available to everyone (no need to join the group).
The effects of human activity on atmospheric composition, focused on global warming, the carbon cycle, air pollution, and the ozone layer. Fundamentals of atmospheric chemistry (spectroscopy, kinetics, isotopic analysis, and biogeochemical cycles) are related to the modern understanding of climate change, air quality, and ozone depletion, based on resources such as satellite missions, field campaigns, and scientific assessments published by international agencies. We also examine how society’s future energy needs could be met in a manner with less impact on atmospheric composition than the present heavy reliance on combustion of fossil fuels.
The course is taught at a level appropriate for upper class undergraduate physical science majors and first year graduate students.
Pre-requisites: CHEM131 or CHEM135 or CHEM146 and MATH 241 or permission of the instructors.
|
Date |
Lecture Topic |
Required Reading |
Admis. Tickets |
Lecture
Notes |
Learning Outcome |
Problem Sets* |
Additional
|
|
01/27 |
Geological Evolution of Earth's
Atmosphere |
(teaching philosophy) |
|
Quiz | |||
|
01/29 |
Overview of Global Warming,
Air Quality, & Ozone Depletion |
(questions 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, & 3.1) (entire document; only 11 pgs) (questions 1, 2, 3, 8, 15 & 18) |
AT 2 √ |
|
|
||
|
02/03 |
Fundamentals of Earth's
Atmosphere |
Chemistry in Context: Sec 1.0 to 1.2, 1.5 to 1.8, 1.14, 2.1, 3.6 & 3.7 (~28 pgs)
|
AT 3* √ AT 3# √ |
|
|||
|
02/05 |
Climates of the Past |
Chemistry in Context, Sec 2.2, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2 (pgs 64-71) |
AT 4 √ AT 4* √ |
(questions 6.1, 6.2) |
|||
|
02/10 |
Global Carbon Cycle |
|
AT5 √ |
No Video; Panopto was down |
IPCC 2007, Section
7.3.4.1 &
|
||
|
02/12 |
Biogeochemical Cycles of
CH4 and N2O |
|
AT6 √ |
|
Problem Set 1 due today √ | ||
|
02/17 |
|
Stay Warm; Be Safe ! |
|
|
|||
|
Wed 02/18 |
Problem Set #1 Review CSS 3400, 6:30 pm |
Video | |||||
| 02/19 |
Radiative Forcing |
|
|
Lecture 7 √ | |||
|
02/24 |
Modeling Earth's Climate:
Water Vapor, Aerosol, Cloud, & Albedo Feedbacks |
|
|
||||
| 02/26 |
Consequences of Climate Change (brief disc.) followed by Review for First Exam |
Sec 3.10 |
No AT |
Review A √
|
Problem Set 2 due today √ | ||
|
Mon 03/02 |
Problem Set #2 Review CSS 2416, 6:30 pm |
||||||
| 03/03 |
First Exam: Focus on first 8 Lectures and first 2 Problem Sets (in class, closed book) |
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| 03/05 |
 |
OK, we get the message. Can stop now! |
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|
Mon 03/09 6:30 pm |
Review of First Exam and Introduction to Atmospheric Chemistry |
Sec 2.0, 2.3, & 2.6 |
No AT Student Survey: PDF √ |
Lecture 9 √ | Quiz | ||
|
03/10 |
Introduction to
Photolysis |
Sec 2.7 Section 2.4 and 2.5 of Warneck, Chemistry of the Natural Atmosphere (as best you can) |
AT 10 √
|
||||
| 03/12 |
Introduction to Chemical
Kinetics |
Sec 4.6 |
AT 11 √ |
||||
|
Spring Break: enjoy ! |
|||||||
| 03/24 |
Pollution of Earth's Troposphere: Surface Ozone |
|
AT 12 √ |
Lecture 12 √
|
|
||
| 03/26 |
Pollution of Earth's Troposphere: Acid Rain & Aerosols |
|
AT 13√ |
Lecture 13
√
|
|
||
|
03/31 |
Pollution of Earth's Stratosphere: Mid-Latitude Ozone Depletion |
(questions 4, 6 to 9, 13 to 17) |
AT 14 √ |
Problem Set 3 due today √ |
|
||
|
04/02 |
Pollution of Earth's Stratosphere: Polar Ozone Depletion |
(quest. 9-12) |
Quiz | ||||
|
Mon 04/06 |
Problem Set #3 Review CSS 2416, 6:30 pm |
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|
04/07 |
Pollution of Earth's Stratosphere: Ozone Recovery and Chemistry/Climate Interactions |
(quest. 19 & 20) |
AT 16 √ |
Quiz | |||
| 04/09 | Review Discussion for Second Exam | No AT | Review B √ |
|
Problem Set 4 due today √ | ||
|
Mon 04/13 |
Problem Set #4 Review CSS 2416, 6:30 pm |
Video | |||||
|
04/14 |
Second Exam: Focus on Lectures 9 to 16 & Problem Sets 3 and 4 (in class, closed book) |
|
|
|
|||
|
04/16 |
Review of Second Exam as well as
World Energy Needs and |
Chemistry in Context, Sec 4.2, 4.4 & 4.5 |
No AT; please complete readings |
Quiz | |||
|
04/21 |
The
|
|
AT 18 √ | Quiz | |||
|
04/23 |
Renewable Energy I: Solar, Geothermal, Hydro, & Wind |
Sec 8.7, 8.8 & 8.9 |
AT 19 √ |
|
Quiz | ||
|
04/28 |
Renewable Energy II: Biofuels, Ethanol, Methanol, and Algae |
|
AT 20 √ |
Quiz | |||
| 04/30 | Fracking |
Fracking
Debate: Please read main page, plus at least one "no" & one "yes" argument
(please read section entitled "How Much Methane is Emitted by Natural Gas Systems) |
AT 21 √ |
Lecture 21 √ | Quiz | Problem Set 5 due today √ |
(633 students please read rest of this paper) |
|
05/05 |
Nuclear Energy |
|
AT 22 √ |
Lecture 22 √ | Quiz |
Chemistry in Context, Sec 7.2 & 7.6
|
|
|
Wed 05/06 |
Problem Set #5 Review CSS 2416, 6:30 pm |
||||||
| 05/07 | Geo-engineering of Climate |
AT 23 √ |
Lecture 23 √ | Quiz |
Assigned only to 433 students who are not doing a project |
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|
Mon 05/11 |
633 Project Presentations CSS 2416, 6:30 pm |
Paper due for students enrolled in 633 | |||||
| 05/12 | Class Review: Preparation for Final Exam | No AT | Review C √ | ||||
|
05/18 |
Final Exam CSS 2416 10:30 am 12:30 pm |
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Problem sets due on the date listed
* Reading strongly suggested for students enrolled in AOSC 633
x Denotes hyperlink, hard-wired ahead of time to make the webmaster's life easier, is not yet working
√ Denotes active hyperlink
The overall grades will be based on problems sets (25%),
admission tickets (10%), in-class group quizzes (5%), two in-class exams (40%), and
the final exam (20%). In addition, students enrolled in AOSC 633 are
required to write a research paper that is 6 to 8 pages long (single spaced) on a topic of their choosing related to the
material covered in class. These students will make a brief oral
presentation of their research paper during either a special evening session; the grade on the paper/presentation will be factored into
their overall grade at a proportion equal to the weight of each
exam.
To encourage completion of the reading assignments prior to class, there is an admission ticket due at the start of each class (with the exception of the first lecture). The admission ticket is a short question (or set of questions) drawn from the readings. Each ticket will be graded in a prompt manner and typically returned at the start of the next class. The lowest three scores will be dropped, and a final overall admission ticket grade will be determined, based on overall percentage of available points achieved. This allows for uniform grading of admission tickets with a variety of assigned points. The overall admission ticket grade counts 10% towards the final course grade.
In many cases, the answer(s) to the admission ticket
question(s) will be worked into the lecture. Hence, the requirement that admission ticket
solutions be turned in at the start of lecture. If you can not
make a lecture, you are welcome to email us your solution prior to class
or have a classmate turn in your solution.
Admission tickets will be posted on this website at least 24 hours prior to the start of each lecture. If an admission ticket for a particular lecture is not posted by 2 pm the day prior to a particular lecture, there will be no admission ticket for that class. Also, if an item other than an admission ticket link appears in the admission ticket column for a particular lecture (i.e., lectures 1, 9, and 14), there will no admission ticket for that class meeting.
We may administer an occasional, in class ''pop quiz''. This will be done if it is apparent that a majority of students are not completing the readings prior to class (e.g., if the admission ticket answers seem, in aggregate, to be based on Google searches of key phrases rather than reading of the assigned material). If one or more ''pop quiz'' is given, the results will be factored into the ''admission ticket'' portion of the grade.
Please remember to hit the ''refresh'' button to see the latest version of this website each time you visit, as we intend to update the website file frequently during the course (if the symbol x is changed to the symbol √, this may not be apparent unless the page is refreshed).
In-class group quizzes will be conducted on a trial basis for Spring 2015. During many lectures, we will break, organize into groups led by a student enrolled in 633, then each will work together for about 5 minutes on answering a question related to that day's lecture. The written answer will be turned in, containing the name of everyone in the group. A single grade will of course be assigned, shared by all members of the group. It is hoped that the composition of the groups will vary from lecture to lecture ... if necessary we will work with the class on a means of achieving this goal. If a student has an excused absence from class, they will receive the mean grade of the the group quizzes for that lecture (i.e., absence will neither help nor hinder your overall grade). Unexcused absence will receive a zero. The lowest 2 in-class grades will be dropped, to assure a level of fairness for students who happen to miss a lecture or two due to an unexcused absence.