Transport Processes in the Environment
Mass transport in rivers and lakes forms the core of this MIT OpenCourseWare course from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Lectures derive the differential form of the mass conservation equation and work through its solutions in environmental flow settings. Topics include molecular and turbulent diffusion, boundary layers, dissolution, bed-water exchange, air-water exchange, and particle transport, building from fundamental physics to the specific mechanisms that move contaminants and sediment through natural water systems. The site provides MIT's lecture notes and problem sets as used in the original course, free to access under a Creative Commons license, giving students working knowledge of the equations engineers use to model pollutant fate in surface waters. No certificate is offered, consistent with MIT OpenCourseWare's self-study format, but the full set of course materials is available for independent study.