Courses taught at IISER Bhopal
EES 308: Oceanography
Ocean exploration is an important study domain in various social and economical aspects including fisheries, transport,mineral/petroleum resources, co2 sinks, seal level rise, Tsunami prediction, human impacts on health of coastal ecosysystems. It also helps in identifying the various impacts of orbital/climate and environmental conditions on various earth surface processes obtained from marine fossil/geochemical/isotope records. The course contents include geological oceanography, physical oceanography, chemical oceanoraphy and biological oceanography. Geological oceanography mainly emphasises on the dimensions and morphological features of modern oceanic basins and their time evolution in response of plate tectonics, continental ice cover and erosion. Physical Oceanography discusses the physical properties of seawater and their spatial distributions, also about the various ocean circulations and the reasons of formation. Chemical oceanography gives the general chemistry and thermodynamics of seawater and also helps in the exploration of contemporary oceanic processes using geochemical and isotope tracers. Biological oceanography helps in the study of ecosystem which thereby provides scope for the estimation of marine productivity using satellite imagery, and nutrient utilization by traditional/nontraditional stable isotopes.
EES 426/427/631: Greenhouse Gas Budgets and Climate Change
This course offers an atmospheric perspective of greenhouse gas budgets, especially about quantifying the distribution of greenhouse gases and climate change as well as their multitude of relationships among driving factors. This also discusses the the available techniques and methods to do so. The course contents include Climate and trace gas composition of the atmosphere, Global greenhouse budgets, Atmospheric transport modeling and Optimal estimation of the state (specific to GHG): The climate course discuses earth radiation balance and its mathematical formulations, greenhouse gases and enhanced greenhouse effect, climate sensitivity, radiation-induced feedbacks in the climate system, climate model scenarios under various radiative forcings and their uncertainties. Global greenhouse budgets course talks about greenhouse gases, measurements and its interpretations. Atmospheric transport modeling discusses Different model typesOptimal estimation of the state (specific to GHG): Introduction to inverse problem; Baye’s theorem; tools for inverse modeling; Case studies and scientific reviews.
EES 102: Introduction to Environmental Sciences
This course offers insights into basic causes of, and possible solutions to important environmental problems, and skills for defining and furthering environmentally sound action. It also emphasizes the physical and chemical interactions between the Earth and environmental systems, to better understand the present day environmental issues and their solution. The course contents include Introduction to Environmental Sciences, Introduction to Environmental Sciences, Abiotic and Biotic Environment, Natural Resources and Contemporary Environmental Issues. Environmental science helps in understanding why human population growth is the underlying environmental problem and what its implications are on environmental systems and also about the environment and sustainable development. Abiotic and Biotic Environment discusses about global environment and its segments - atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, biosphere and inter-relationships and sources of energy from the natural environment. Contemporary Environmental Issues discusses about Types of pollutants, Solid Waste Management, Radiation and Noise pollution.
EES 201/305: Atmospheric Sciences
This course is designed to understand the evolution of the Earth’s atmosphere, tools to observe it, and its properties. Additionally, the students will learn to formulate and apply equations to solve problems on atmospheric dynamics, radiation and thermodynamics. Finally, the sub-disciplines of atmospheric science and their inter-relationships will be discussed. The course includes Introduction, Earth’s Atmosphere, Atmospheric Observations, Atmospheric Radiation, Atmospheric Thermodynamics, Atmospheric Motion and Atmospheric Chemistry. It emphasizes about the evolution of the Earth and its atmosphere, Composition and structure of the atmosphere, Sun Earth relationships, Atmospheric Observations, Quantitative description of radiation. Chemical structure, reactivity, and lifetime of chemicals and also an Overview of tropospheric and stratospheric chemistry.
EES 502: Contemporary Environmental Issues
This course is designed to create awareness about and provide a fundamental understanding of a selection of environmental issues, relevant literature, and mitigation strategies with a special emphasis on India. This course will be conducted as a reading/seminar course and will require the submission of a term paper and oral presentation. Course Contents include Hydroelectric projects and their environmental impacts, Climate change impacts on river discharge regimes, Urban heat island, Urban air pollutants, Landfill and solid waste, Urban waste water management, Industrial accidents, Radioactive waste management, Deforestation and desertification, Biodiversity hotspots and conservation paleobiology.