Environmental Physics

Students are introduced to the application of physics to environmental problems (from climate change to air pollution). In addition, the course deals with state-of-the-art experimental and modelling approaches widely used in the environmental research field.

At the end of the course unit, the student will:
1) Be able to deal with environmental problems related to the atmospheric compartment with the proper scientific approach and with specific attention to the multiple interactions among different components and to the processes of formation/transformation/deposition to which they are exposed;
2) Be able to describe the physico-chemical processes at the basis of the considered topics (e.g., greenhouse effect, ozone hole, photochemical smog, atmospheric aerosol), both from the phenomenological point of view and on the basis of physical laws;
3) Know the experimental methods and the measurement principles for the characterization of physico-chemical and optical properties of the different contaminants considered;
4) Have basic knowledge of the most common modelling approaches to study and prediction of atmospheric contaminants.