Atmospheric Pollution

Learning Outcomes: 
The goal of this course is the familiarization of the students with the atmospheric pollution problem and the physicochemical processes that take place in the atmosphere. After the completion of the course the students will be able to:
• understand the role of the chemical compounds in the atmosphere
• estimate the effect of the radiation in the atmosphere
• understand the physicochemical properties of the aerosols and the ways of their introduction in the atmosphere
• understand the removal mechanisms of the atmospheric pollutants and the role of the acid rain
• take place in atmospheric pollutant measurements that originate from various emission sources (industry, vehicles etc.)
• analyze data from atmospheric emission sources and accomplish a complete environmental survey

Course Content:

Theory
1. Atmosphere: the layers of the atmosphere, wind circulation, pollutants transportation in the atmosphere, expressing the amount of a substance in the atmosphere
2. Chemical compounds in the atmosphere, atmospheric lifetime
3. Atmospheric radiation, radiation absorption by atmospheric gases, energy balance for Earth and atmosphere
4. Atmospheric aerosol, aerosol size distributions, aerosol chemical composition, water and atmospheric particles, formation of major inorganic compounds, elemental carbon, organic carbon, secondary organic carbon
5. Removal processes of pollutants, wet deposition of gas-phase pollutants, wet deposition of aerosols, acid rain
6. Atmospheric dispersion and diffusion

Laboratory Courses
EXERCISE 1: Number concentration measurements of atmospheric particles
EXERCISE 2: Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy
EXERCISE 3: Ambient sulfur dioxide measurements
EXERCISE 4: Ambient particulate sulfate and nitrate measurements
EXERCISE 5: PM2.5 filter sampling method and analysis with ionic chromatography
EXERCISE 6: Determination of pH in precipitation

Suggested Bibliography : 

• «ΣΗΜΕΙΩΣΕΙΣ ΑΤΜΟΣΦΑΙΡΙΚΗΣ ΡΥΠΑΝΣΗΣ» Ευαγγελία Κωστενίδου, ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΟ στο e- class.
• «ΕΡΓΑΣΤΗΡΙΑΚΕΣ ΑΣΚΗΣΕΙΣ ΑΤΜΟΣΦΑΙΡΙΚΗΣ ΡΥΠΑΝΣΗΣ» Ευαγγελία Κωστενίδου, ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΟ στο e-class.
• «CHEMISTRY OF THE UPPER AND LOWER ATMOSPHERE» B. Finlayson- Pitts and J. Pitts J. Academic Press 2000.
• «ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSISCS» J. Seinfeld, S. Pandis. Wiley Interscience, Second Edition 2006 (Στην βιβλιοθήκη του ΔΠΘ µε αριθµό καταχώρησης QC 879.6.S45 2006).