Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Unit Convenor
Associate Professor Paul Beggs
Contact via By email
12 Wally's Walk, Office 413
Generally anytime, but it is best to make an appointment if you are coming in specially to meet
Lecturer
Katrina MacSween
During Lecture and Practical class time
Katrina MacSween
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Credit points |
Credit points
3
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
(39cp at 100 level or above) including (ENVE216 or ENVS216 or GEOS216)
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
More than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and virtually all countries are becoming increasingly urbanised. Australia is one of the most urbanised countries in the world, with about 90% of our pollution living in urban areas. For these reasons, urban climate and air quality are extremely important, directly influencing the health and wellbeing of billions of people around the world. This unit explores urban climate and air quality through detailed study of interactions between the atmosphere and the Earth’s surface in the relatively thin veneer of air that we live in known as the planetary boundary layer. The unit will be of interest to all students in science and engineering and more generally any student with an interest in the environment, and provides knowledge and skills that will be of value for a range of careers and employers, ranging from environmental consultancy and local and state government, to private industry.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
This unit has six assessment tasks. The first three relate to the first half of the unit, and the last three relate to the second half of the unit.
Quizzes 1, 2, 3, and 4 must be done in a ENVS302 Practical class under the supervision of one of the academic staff teaching the unit.
Extensions for Assignment 1 and Assignment 2 may be granted, and applications must be submitted by email to the Unit Convenor prior to the due date where possible.
Penalties apply for late submission of Assignment 1 and Assignment 2 without an extension. This is 10% of the total possible mark per day or part thereof (i.e., the assignments are worth 20%, so the penalty is 2% (i.e., 2 marks) per day or part thereof.
Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
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Quiz 1 | 15% | No | Week 4 Practical |
Assignment 1 | 20% | No | 10am 1 April 2019 via Turnitin |
Quiz 2 | 15% | No | Week 7 Practical |
Quiz 3 | 15% | No | Week 10 Practical |
Assignment 2 | 20% | No | 10am, 3 June 2019 via Turnitin |
Quiz 4 | 15% | No | Week 13 Practical |
Due: Week 4 Practical
Weighting: 15%
The quiz comprises 20 multiple choice questions and usually requires about thirty minutes to an hour to complete. The quiz is conducted in the ENVS302 Practical class. Questions in the quiz are randomised. It will be drawn from lecture and practical material covered prior to the date of the quiz. Feedback is available to students as soon as they complete the quiz. This feedback includes their number grade, an indication of if each question was answered correctly or not, and a written response to the answer provided for each question.
Due: 10am 1 April 2019 via Turnitin
Weighting: 20%
Literature review. Further description to be posted on iLearn.
Due: Week 7 Practical
Weighting: 15%
The quiz comprises 20 multiple choice questions and usually requires about thirty minutes to an hour to complete. This quiz covers the Urban Climate lectures and practicals (Weeks 4, 5, and 6) delivered by Associate Professor Paul Beggs. Questions in the quiz are randomised. Feedback is available to students as soon as they complete the quiz. This feedback includes their number grade, an indication of if each question was answered correctly or not, and a written response to the answer provided for each question.
Due: Week 10 Practical
Weighting: 15%
The quiz comprises 20 multiple choice questions and usually requires about thirty minutes to an hour to complete. This quiz covers the Urban Climate lectures and practicals (Weeks 8 and 9) delivered by Associate Professor Paul Beggs. Questions in the quiz are randomised. Feedback is available to students as soon as they complete the quiz. This feedback includes their number grade, an indication of if each question was answered correctly or not, and a written response to the answer provided for each question.
Due: 10am, 3 June 2019 via Turnitin
Weighting: 20%
Urban Climate Data Analysis Research Report. Details of this assignment will be provided in Week 8 by Associate Professor Paul Beggs.
Due: Week 13 Practical
Weighting: 15%
The quiz comprises 20 multiple choice questions and usually requires about thirty minutes to an hour to complete. This quiz covers the Urban Climate lectures and practicals (Weeks 10, 11, and 12) delivered by Associate Professor Paul Beggs. Questions in the quiz are randomised. Feedback is available to students as soon as they complete the quiz. This feedback includes their number grade, an indication of if each question was answered correctly or not, and a written response to the answer provided for each question.
Required Text
The required text for this unit is:
Oke TR, Mills G, Christen A, Voogt JA (2017) Urban climates. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
There are enough copies in the Co-op Bookshop for each ENVS302 student to purchase a copy. The Library provides online access [QC981.7.U7 O34 2017].
Also highly recommended:
Oke TR (1987) Boundary layer climates (2nd ed). Routledge, London. [QC981.7.M5.O34/1987]
Recommended Texts
• Arya SPS (2001) Introduction to micrometeorology (2nd ed). Academic Press, San Diego. [QC883.8.A79/2001]
• Foken T (2008) Micrometeorology. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, [QC883.8]
• Hewitt CN, Jackson AV (2009) Atmospheric science for environmental scientists. Wiley-Blackwell UK. [QC861.3 AB66]
• Monteith JL, Unsworth MH (2008) Principles of environmental physics (3rd ed). Edward Arnold, Melbourne. [QH505.M58/1990]
• Scorer RS (2002) Air pollution meteorology. Horwood, Chichester. [QC882.S35]
Recommended Journals
Agricultural and Forest Meteorology [S600.A35 and Electronic journal]
Atmospheric Environment [TD881.A8 and Electronic journal]
Boundary-Layer Meteorology [QC851.B6 and Electronic journal]
Energy and Buildings [TJ163.5.B84.E523 and Electronic journal]
International Journal of Biometeorology [QH543.I5 and Electronic journal]
Journal of Applied Meteorology [QC851.A66 and Electronic journal]
Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology [QC851.A66 and Electronic journal]
Journal of Geophysical Research [QC811.J6]
Meteorological Applications [QC851.M15]
Technical Note / World Meteorological Organization [QC851.W6444]
Theoretical and Applied Climatology [QC851.A732 and Electronic journal]
Urban Climate [Online access]
Unit Web Site
The web page for this unit can be found at: https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/
Required Storage and Calculator
You will be required to supply your own computer storage media – USB - for data storage or records of what you have been working on in the practical classes.
Week | Lecturer | Lecture Topic | Practical Topic | Assessment |
1 | PB | Introduction | No Practical | |
2 | KM |
Introduction to Boundary Layer Climates |
Working with Data | |
3 | KM | Atmospheric Stability | Citizen Science Project on Urban Microclimates | |
4 | KM |
Turbulent Diffusion in the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) |
Field Practical Boundary Layer Profiling (Balloon) Quiz 1 |
Quiz 1 |
5 | KM | Air Quality in the Boundary Layer | Profiling the atmosphere | |
6 | KM |
Plume Behaviour in the PBL Modelling Pollutant Dispersion in the PBL |
Modelling Practical Ausplume/WindTrax | Assignment 1 |
7 | KM | Micrometeorology and Measurement Techniques | Quiz 2 | Quiz 2 |
Two Week Break | ||||
8 | PB |
Urban Climates: Introduction and Concepts Urban Airflow |
Integrated Monitoring of the Urban Atmosphere | |
9 | PB | Urban Radiation and Energy Balance | Physical Modelling of Urban Airflow | |
10 | PB | Urban Heat Island | Quiz 3 | Quiz 3 |
11 | PB | Urban Water and Atmospheric Moisture | Urban Climate | |
12 | PB | Urban Clouds and Precipitation | Urban Climate | |
13 | PB | Climate-Sensitive Urban Design | Quiz 4 |
Assignment 2 Quiz 4 |
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Our graduates will also be capable of creative thinking and of creating knowledge. They will be imaginative and open to experience and capable of innovation at work and in the community. We want them to be engaged in applying their critical, creative thinking.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement. They will exercise initiative as needed. They will be capable of risk assessment, and be able to handle ambiguity and complexity, enabling them to be adaptable in diverse and changing environments.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our graduates will have enquiring minds and a literate curiosity which will lead them to pursue knowledge for its own sake. They will continue to pursue learning in their careers and as they participate in the world. They will be capable of reflecting on their experiences and relationships with others and the environment, learning from them, and growing - personally, professionally and socially.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate.
This graduate capability is supported by:
As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want our graduates to be aware of and have respect for self and others; to be able to work with others as a leader and a team player; to have a sense of connectedness with others and country; and to have a sense of mutual obligation. Our graduates should be informed and active participants in moving society towards sustainability.
This graduate capability is supported by:
A new lecturer (Katrina Macsween) is taking the first half of the unit in 2019.
Activity | Hours Per Week | Hours Per Session |
Lectures | 2 | 26 |
Practicals | 3 | 28 |
Readings | 1.5 | 19 |
Quiz Study | 20 (5 each) | |
Assignments | 42 (21 each) | |
TOTAL | 9 | 135 |