Module descriptors - Advanced Computational Methods

The module descriptors for this programme can be found below.

Modules shown are for the current academic year and are subject to change depending on your year of entry.

Please note that the curriculum of this programme is currently being reviewed as part of a College-wide process to introduce a standardised modular structure. As a result, the content and assessment structures of this course may change for your year of entry. We therefore recommend that you check this course page before finalising your application and after submitting it as we will aim to update this page as soon as any changes are ratified by the College.

Find out more about the limited circumstances in which we may need to make changes to or in relation to our courses, the type of changes we may make and how we will tell you about changes we have made.

Quantification of Aerospace Environmental Impact S4

Module aims

This course focuses on understanding and addressing the challenge of sustainable aviation, using the analytical and computational tools employed by scientists, engineers, and regulators worldwide to monitor and minimize net damages. Basic methods such as the Breguet Range Equation and thermodynamic cycle analysis introduced in previous years will be built upon to understand first what aircraft emit, the ways in which those emissions impact the environment, and how these impacts can be understood in terms of net economic damages. The principal focus of this module is on quantitative methods, first covering fundamental techniques to estimate environmental change and extending to the theory and application of modern atmospheric simulation tools used in real-world environmental impact assessments. This module is necessarily broad: among other topics it will touch on climate science, atmospheric chemistry, ice cloud physics, and the economics of public health. 

Learning outcomes

On successfully completing this module, you should be able to:
1. Calculate the magnitude and spatial distribution of emissions of key pollutants from a typical flight;
2. Explain the physical mechanisms by which different aviation emissions modify the climate, the global ozone layer, and surface air quality;
3. Quantitatively evaluate how different existing or novel aircraft designs, operational strategies, and fuels might trigger different environmental outcomes;
4. Apply modern computational tools in the estimation of aviation's climate and air quality impacts; and

5. Translate environmental impacts from aviation (or any other sector) into monetized health and climate impacts appropriate for use in regulatory settings. 

Module syllabus

Characterizing aerospace as an environmental forcing
 - Calculating emissions
Atmospheric chemistry and physics
 - Atmospheric dynamics
 - Atmospheric chemistry
 - Aerosol chemistry and physics
 - Atmospheric composition modelling
Climate effects
 - Basic climate science
 - Climate modelling
 - Contrails
 - Contrail modelling
Impact analysis
 - Air quality estimation (exposure and epidemiology)
 - Climate calculations (radiative forcing)

 - Impact modelling (economics) 

Teaching methods

The module will be delivered primarily through large-class lectures introducing the key concepts and methods, supported by a variety of delivery methods combining the traditional and the technological.  The content is presented via a combination of slides, whiteboard and visualizer.
Learning will be reinforced through tutorial question sheets.

Assessments

This module presents opportunities for both formative and summative assessment.  
You will be formatively assessed through progress tests and tutorial sessions. 
You will have additional opportunities to self-assess your learning via tutorial problem sheets. 
You will be summatively assessed by a written closed-book examination at the end of the module.
 
You will receive feedback on examinations in the form of an examination feedback report on the performance of the entire cohort.
You will receive feedback on your performance whilst undertaking tutorial exercises, during which you will also receive instruction on the correct solution to tutorial problems.
Further individual feedback will be available to you on request via this module’s online feedback forum, through staff office hours and discussions with tutors.
 
Assessment type Assessment description Weighting Pass mark Must pass?
Examination Closed book written examination 100% 50% N

Module leaders

Dr Sebastian Eastham