Peter Molnar: Catalogue data in Autumn Semester 2024 |  |
| Name | Prof. Dr. Peter Molnar |
| Address | Institut für Umweltingenieurwiss. ETH Zürich, HIF D 20.1 Laura-Hezner-Weg 7 8093 Zürich SWITZERLAND |
| Telephone | +41 44 633 29 58 |
| peter.molnar@ifu.baug.ethz.ch | |
| Department | Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering |
| Relationship | Adjunct Professor |
| Number | Title | ECTS | Hours | Lecturers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 061-0101-00L | Climate / Water / Soil   | 2 credits | 3G | H. Joos, R. Kretzschmar, P. Molnar, A. Carminati, S. Dötterl, M. G. Fellin, A. Frossard, T. Galí-Izard, N. Gruber, J. P. Leitão Correia , V. Picotti, J. Riboldi, C. Steger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | Lectures, exercises and excursions serve as an introduction to atmospheric sciences, soil science and hydrology. Students gain a broad vision of the cutting edge topics that are being researched and studied at the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH, Eawag, WSL a.o. This will be the base for a future dialog between the field of landscape architecture and the field of sciences. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | Students acquire basic knowledge in atmospheric sciences, hydrology and soil science: - Understanding basic chemical and physical processes in the atmosphere that influence weather and climate - Fundamentals about the classification of soils, soil-forming processes, physical and chemical soil properties, soil biology and ecology, soil degradation and protection - Knowledge of water balance, principles of integral water management and climatic factors in the field of hydrology Students develop an understanding of the relevance of these topics in the field of landscape architecture. Temporal and physical scale, research methods, units of measurement, lexicon, modes of representation and critical literature form the framework for the joint discourse. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | The course unit consists of the three courses "Climate", "Soil" and "Water", which are organized in modules. Module 1 “Climate”, 23–27.09.2024 - Atmospheric dynamics: weather conditions, precipitation formation, weather forecast - Carbon Cycle: atmospheric CO2 concentrations and its interaction with the physical climate system - Land-climate dynamics: interaction between the land surface and the climate system - Hydrology and water cycle: extreme precipitation, influence of climate change on the cryosphere - Introduction to geology: formation of rocks, geologic times, structural geology Module 2 “Soil”, 30.09.–04.10.24 - Introduction to soils: definition, function, formation, classification and mapping - Soil physics: soil texture, soil structure, soil water potentials, hydraulic conductivity - Soil chemistry and fertility: clay minerals and oxides, cation exange capacity, soil pH, essential plant nutrients - Soil biology and ecology: soil fauna and microflora, fungi, bacteria, food web, organic matter - Soil degradation and threats to soil resources: erosion, compactation, sealing, contamination, salinization Module 3 “Water”, 11.11.–15.11.2024 Basics: - Water supply: water balance, groundwater, water quality (water protection) - River restoration - Flooding, evapotranspiration/cooling of landscapes - Hydropower (everything is managed - lake levels, water flows, pumping) - hydrology in the anthropocene - Water management and storage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lecture notes | Course material will be provided. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literature | The course material includes a reading list. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prerequisites / Notice | The courses "Climate", "Water" and "Soil" are organized with the Fundamental Studio I as joint one-week modules. The weekly schedules will be provided with the course materials. Module 1 "Climate", 23.–27.09.2024 Module 2 "Soil", 30.09.–04.10.24 Module 3 "Water", 11–15.11.2024 - The courses are held in English - The written session examination covers all three courses "Climate", "Soil" and "Water". | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Competencies |
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| 102-0004-00L | Introduction into Environmental Engineering | 3 credits | 2G | P. Molnar, R. Boes, I. Hajnsek, S. Hellweg, J. P. Leitão Correia , M. Maurer, S. Pfister, J. Slomka, J. Wang | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | In this course students are introduced to how environmental problems in the areas of water quantity and quality, waste production and recycling, air pollution control, are formulated and solved with engineering methods. The course makes a connection between the theoretical Bachelor foundation classes and practical topics of environmental engineering in six main thematic areas. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | After completing this course, the student will be able to: - formulate key global environmental problems - develop a systems perspective and solutions to the problems (critical thinking) - identify and solve simple numerical problems in the domain areas - understand why/how we use data/models in environmental engineering - develop own interest in the domain areas and see career opportunities | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | Topics of study: 0. Introduction – description of the Earth System, main stressors, global warming, introduction into the methods and goals of environmental engineering. 1. Water Science & Engineering – definition of the global water cycle and hydrological regimes, surface/subsurface flow equations (advection, diffusion), water resources management, climate change. 2. Resource Management & Recovery – waste management, recycling, resource recovery, lifecycle assessment, water and carbon footprints. 3. Urban Water Technology – water quality parameters, municipal water and wastewater treatment processes and technologies, urban water systems (infrastructure). 4. River and Hydraulic Engineering – utility hydraulic engineering (hydropower production), protective hydraulic engineering (flood protection), waters protection (river restoration, ecological measures at hydropower plants). 5. Air Quality – air quality parameters, main air pollutants, air quality in cities/indoor, emission control, the plume dispersion model. 6. Earth Observation – satellite observation of the Earth System from space, methods, environmental applications (glaciers, forest, land surface change) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lecture notes | Course will take place in English and German (bilingual). The English textbook by Masters and Ela (see below) will be complemented by instructors materials to the individual thematic topics. Lecture presentations will be the main study material. There is no formal Script. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literature | - Masters, G.M., & Ela, W.P. (2014). Introduction to Environmental Engineering and Science, Third Edition, Prentice Hall, 692 pp, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ethz/reader.action?docID=5831826 - lecture presentations and selected papers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 102-0287-00L | River Basin Erosion | 3 credits | 2G | P. Molnar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | The course presents a view of the catchment processes of sediment production and transport that shape the landscape. Focus is on sediment fluxes from sources on hillslopes to the river network. Students learn about how a fluvial system functions, how to identify sediment sources and sinks, how to make predictions with numerical models, develop sediment budgets, and quantify geomorphic change. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | The course has two fundamental aims: (1) The first aim is to provide environmental engineers with the physical process basis needed to understand fluvial system change, using the right language and terminology to describe landforms. We will cover the main geomorphic concepts of landscape change, e.g. thresholds, equilibrium, criticality, to describe change. Students will learn about the importance of the concepts of connectivity and timescales of change. (2) The second aim is to provide quantitative skills in making simple and more complex predictions of change and the data and models required. We will learn about typical landscape evolution models, and about hillslope erosion model concepts like RUSLE. We will learn how to identify sediment sources and sinks, and develop simple sediment budgets with the right data needed for this purpose. Finally we will learn about methods to describe the topology of river networks as conduits of sediment through the fluvial system. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | The course consists of four sections: (1) Introduction to fluvial forms and processes and geomorphic concepts of landscape change, including climatic and human activities acting on the system. Concepts like thresholds, equilibrium, self-organised criticality, etc. are presented. (2) Landscape evolution modelling as a tool for describing the shape of the land surface. Soil formation and sediment production at long timescales. (3) The processes of sediment production, upland sheet-rill-gully erosion, basin sediment yield, rainfall-triggered landsliding, sediment budgets, and the modelling of the individual processes involved. Here we combine model concepts with field observations and look at many examples. (4) Processes in the river, floodplain and riparian zone, including river network topology, channel geometry, aquatic habitat, role of riparian vegetation, including basics of fluvial system management. The main focus of the course is on the hydrology-sediment connections at the field and catchment scale. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lecture notes | There is no script. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literature | The course materials consist of a series of 13 lecture presentations and notes to each lecture. The lectures were developed from textbooks, professional papers, and ongoing research activities of the instructor. All material is on the course webpage. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prerequisites / Notice | Prerequisites: Basic Hydrology and Watershed Modelling (or contact instructor). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 102-0468-10L | Watershed Modelling | 6 credits | 4G | P. Molnar, S. Sinclair | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | Watershed Modelling is a practical course on numerical water balance models for a range of catchment-scale water resource applications. The course covers GIS use in watershed analysis, models types from conceptual to physically-based, parameter calibration and model validation, and analysis of uncertainty. The course combines theory (lectures) with a series of practical tasks (exercises). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | The main aim of the course is to provide practical training with watershed models for environmental engineers. The course is built on thematic lectures (2 hrs a week) and practical exercises (2 hrs a week). Theory and concepts in the lectures are underpinned by many examples from scientific studies. A comprehensive exercise block builds on the lectures with a series of 4 practical tasks to be conducted during the semester in group work. Exercise hours during the week focus on explanation of the tasks. The course is evaluated 50% by performance in the graded exercises and 50% by a semester-end oral examination (30 mins) on watershed modelling concepts. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | The first part (A) of the course is on watershed properties analysed from DEMs, and on global sources of hydrological data for modelling applications. Here students learn about GIS applications (ArcGIS, Q-GIS) in hydrology - flow direction routines, catchment morphometry, extracting river networks, and defining hydrological response units. In the second part (B) of the course on conceptual watershed models students build their own simple bucket model (Matlab, Python), they learn about performance measures in modelling, how to calibrate the parameters and how to validate models, about methods to simulate stochastic climate to drive models, uncertainty analysis. The third part (C) of the course is focussed on physically-based model components. Here students learn about components for soil water fluxes and evapotranspiration, they practice with a fully-distributed physically-based model Topkapi-ETH, and learn about other similar models at larger scales. They apply Topkapi-ETH to an alpine catchment and study simulated discharge, snow, soil moisture and evapotranspiration spatial patterns. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lecture notes | There is no textbook. Learning materials consist of (a) video-recording of lectures; (b) lecture presentations; and (c) exercise task documents that allow independent work. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literature | Literature consist of collections from standard hydrological textbooks and research papers, collected by the instructors on the course moodle page. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prerequisites / Notice | Basic Hydrology in Bachelor Studies (engineering, environmental sciences, earth sciences). Basic knowledge of Matlab (Python), ArcGIS (Q-GIS). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 102-0515-01L | Environmental Engineering Seminars | 3 credits | 3S | S. Sinclair, P. Burlando, I. Hajnsek, S. Hellweg, M. Maurer, P. Molnar, E. Morgenroth, C. Oberschelp, S. Pfister, E. Secchi, R. Stocker, J. Wang | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | The course is organized in the form of seminars held by the students. Topics selected from the core disciplines of the curriculum (water resources, urban water engineering, material fluxes, waste technology, air polution, earth observation) are discussed in the class on the basis of scientific papers that are illustrated and critically reviewed by the students. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | Learn about recent research results in environmental engineering and analyse practical applications in environmental engineering. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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