Grand Challenges in AEE

The previous modules focused on understanding, conceptualization and technical aspects of Atmospheric Environment Engineering (AEE). This module takes a step beyond. Students first learn to identify and analyze grand challenges within AEE. Next, students learn how to create and evaluate engineering solutions for such challenges of contemporary and future societies. Rather than working on an isolated technical aspect, they learn how to integrate knowledge of different disciplines and learn to integrate different tools to tackle the problem at hand. To monitor and manage a research project and to work in an interdisciplinary team. To communicate their scientific and engineering solutions and to reflect on the ethical implications of their proposed solutions to the grand challenges.

In collaboration with ethics experts from the TPM faculty, we will organize a half-day long workshop on ethics. The theme of the workshop will be on ethical issues related to Public Health. The students will actively participate and prepare a reflection document as part of a portfolio. During Q6, this portfolio will be evaluated by ethics experts.

Urban and Indoor Air Quality

LO1, LO3, LO4, LO7 and LO9.

This course provides an in-depth understanding of how various sources of pollution can affect air quality in the urban outdoor and indoor environment. The course will start by covering the different types of air pollutants (gaseous pollutants, particulate matter, and bioaerosols), their sources, as well as the processes they may undergo to lead to secondary pollutants. Links with the associated health effects will be made. We will introduce simple observational and computational techniques for assessing and predicting the evolutions of air quality in the outdoor environment. We will draw upon the knowledge of module A in order to demonstrate how the concentration of different air pollutants can be monitored in the outdoor and indoor environment. Simple computational models will be introduced for the case of the indoor environment, showing the students how different ventilation approaches and other mitigation measures (humidification/purification) can improve air quality in buildings and/or vehicles. Topics of special interest on how different air pollutants, including particles containing viruses, can disperse/transport in the indoor environment will also be covered (guest lecture).

Noise Modelling and Mitigation

LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO6 and LO9.

We first introduce computational methods available to solve practical problems in acoustics and compared them with benchmark analytical solutions. Potential and limitations of analytical and numerical approaches are discussed. The module units introduces available methods but also stimulate to think beyond for those seeking to apply or extend them further.

The second part of the module theme deals with noise control engineering, focusing primarily on noise mitigation and noise trapping, to reduce noise in practical situations. The noise control engineer needs to know how to set targets, how to characterize and quantify noise sources, and how to reduce noise either at source or in the transmission path. Suitable formulae are provided and explained for this. The main assessment consists of a design calculation/field study which makes use of the above to solve a practical problemExtreme Urban Weather

LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO6 and LO9.

The first part focuses on rainfall extremes. Students learn how environmental factors such as temperature and relative humidity influence the spatial/temporal distribution of rainfall. They learn how to use radar and numerical weather prediction models to predict rainfall over urban scales. This enables them to identify dangerous rainfall patterns, assess risks and discuss the effectiveness of mitigation strategies.

The second half of the module theme focuses on modelling the urban microclimate on the scale level of the street. This enables students to indicate problematic areas in relation to heat stress, as well as propose and assess the effectiveness of mitigation strategies.

The following topics are addressed:

• Scaling of precipitation with temperature. Extreme precipitation in numerical weather prediction models;

• Nowcasting using radar

• Droughts en dry spell analysis;

• Influence of urban environment on heat stress and mitigation measures;

• Modelling urban heat using ENVI-met;

• Presentations from experts in the field of climate adaptation.

Two assignments will run in parallel: a re-analysis of a heavy rain and a heat stress event (including analysis of potential mitigation)

Integrated AEE Project

LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6, LO7, LO8 and LO9.

This module theme aims to integrate knowledge acquired during previous modules. Here we go beyond theoretical understanding and application of techniques by analyzing a complex research question as a whole. The student will break down the complex problem in sub-parts and will identify which methods/techniques are most appropriate to answer the research question. New ideas will be developed and new insights will be generated by combining or improving knowledge from different sources, which may include novel data analysis, modeling or theoretical analysis. The results are placed within a societal context and environmental and/or ethical issues are taken into consideration. Students will therefore condense the scientific outcome into a summarized form displaced in poster format. The posters will be presented to a broad audience and will strive to address the critical questions posed by the audience. Finally, the student will reflect on the full cycle of his/her research within his/her peer group as to learn how to improve his/her approach to this type of assignments in the future (master thesis).

Examples of projects:

• Understanding and prediction of intra-diurnal pollution level variations in a large city. As both human activity (rush hours) and atmospheric activity (turbulent mixing) strongly varies within a circadian cycle, this is also true for pollution levels exposed to the inhabitants.

• Harvesting the Urban Wind Island: a potential source of wind energy? The wind over city regions with low buildings may exceed wind over their rural counterpart that are less rough in general. This counterintuitive aspect results from the fact that the atmospheric boundary layer is generally deeper over cities.

• Greening the city: the role of vegetation in climate adaptation. Trees, shrubs and grass bring many benefits to cities including cooling by transpiration, filtering aerosols, absorbing noise and enhancing the general well-being of the urban population. Yet urban vegetation lives under stressful conditions. The project can take different angles. E. g by observing and modeling of temperature, radiation, noise, air quality modification. Or by looking into the design of urban greening by finding sweet spots in urban microclimate.