Environmental hydraulics
| Italian title | Idraulica ambientale | ||||
| Language | English | ||||
| ECTS | 6 | ||||
| Course type | Second Cycle Degree (Master’s Level) – Advanced Course | ||||
| Period | Spring Semester | ||||
| Scope and form | Lectures | ||||
| Course duration | 13 weeks | ||||
| Type of assessment | written or oral exam + a literature review project | ||||
| Exam duration | 2-3 hours | ||||
| Aid | To be decided based on the content of assessment | ||||
| Prerequisites | Hydraulics, Contaminant dynamics | ||||
| General course objectives | The course offers a view of modern advances in environmental hydraulics, moving forward from classical theories of advection, dispersion and sediment transport treated in basic courses. It describes state-of-the- art scientific knowledge as well as practical engineering tools (such as tracer tests) for water quality mathematical and physical modelling including surface and hyporheic transport of solutes and sediments. It describes the procedures required to perform Environmental Assessment Studies on the design of hydraulic structures for irrigation, renewable energy production and river and wetland restoration. It offers an insight of risk analysis and vulnerability assessment of environmental damages caused by hydro-geological extreme events, including collapse of hydraulic structures, sewer overflow, overaggradation and flooding. | ||||
| Learning objectives | A student who has met the objectives of the course will be able to:
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| Content | Overview of ongoing international research in contaminant and sediment transport.. Hydraulic survey and measurements with tracers of transport properties in rivers and wetlands. Models of contaminant transport scenarios using numerical codes ( OTIS, STIR) to evaluate vulnerability of sites to short-term and long-term contamination. Models and measurements of hyporheic contamination and implications for benthic geochemistry and biology. Impact of hydraulic structures on water quality and ecology, determination of minimum flow for rivers. Environmental compatibility of water uses for irrigation, hydroelectric generation and environmental restoration. Sediment transport, river morphology, erosion (scouring), aggradation, flooding. Properties, transport dynamics and environmental impact of sewer sediments. Ecological impact of floods on contaminant transport and retention in the receiving water bodies. Ecological impact of floods on contaminant transport and retention in the receiving water bodies. Case studies: natural wetlands, constructed wetlands, highly polluted natural rivers, quality control of artificial channels collecting discharge from industrial areas. | ||||
| Course Resources | Course material: To be decided Course material: To be assigned by the teacher | ||||
| Course lecturer/ Department | Prof. Andrea Marion /Industrial Engineering Department | ||||
| Key words | Water quality, solute transport, sediment transport, vulnerability to pollution, flooding, Environmental Assessment Studies | ||||
| Last update |
