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Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal

Earth and Environmental Sciences

EES 415: Environmental Chemistry Laboratory (4)

Prerequisites (Desirable): MTH, CHM, and PHY 100 level courses; EES 310 (registered or completed)

Learning Objectives:

This course is designed to complement the material covered in environmental science theory courses. The courses intends to introduce the student to analytical techniques, including instrumental methods that are essential for determining the state of the environment and provide hands on experience in techniques that can be built upon for  use in contemporary research of environmental systems.

Course Contents:

  1. General inorganic properties (pH, TDS, alkalinity, salinity) of natural waters and waste waters. Determination of hardness of groundwater, river/stream waters and RO water by titration method.
  2. Solubility of dissolved oxygen in surface waters at varying temperature and salinity by titration methods.
  3. Determination of chemical and biological oxygen demand in natural and polluted/waste water.
  4. Determination of dissolved/labile nutrients (N, P, Si) and contaminant abundances in natural/waste waters, aerosols and soils.
  5. Determination of inorganic anions/cations in water samples using ion chromatography.
  6. Determination of water, carbonate and organic matter contents in a soil sample.
  7. Evaluation of the relationships between cation exchange capacity of soils and their organic matter contents, in a depth profile.
  8. Determination of aerosol (PM10 and PM2.5) concentrations at various locations – sampling and gravimetry and analyzing temporal trends (using actual measurements/synthetic data sets) OR Aerosol optical depth by sunphotometry and preparing Langley plots.
  9. Monitoring ambient meteorological parameters – wind speed, wind direction, temperature, and relative humidity. Preparation of wind rose plots (using measurements/synthetic data sets).
  10. Monitoring ambient gaseous pollutants – O3, SO2, NOx, and CO. Analyzing temporal trends (using measurements/synthetic data sets).

Suggested Readings :

  1. Douglas A. S, Holler, F. J., and Stanley R. C., 2006, Principles of Instrumental Analysis, Thomson Brooks/Cole.
  2. Gopalan, R., Anand, A., Sugumar, R., and Wilgred, 2009, A Laboratory Manual for Environmental Chemistry, I K International Publishing House.
  3. Newmann, M. E., 2005, Environmental Chemistry: A Laboratory Manual, Taylor and Francis E-book.
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