Introduction to Environmental Modeling

This textbook presents the timeless basic physical and mathematical principles and philosophy of environmental modeling.

William G. Gray (Author), Genetha A. Gray (Author)

9781107571693, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 December 2016

444 pages
25.5 x 17.8 x 2 cm, 0.92 kg

'This beautifully produced and clear text provides a vital bridge between conventional physical science treatments of applied mathematics and the more creative approach necessary to model environmental systems.' Jon French, University College London

This textbook presents an understanding of how basic physical descriptions can be translated into mathematical analogues that provide an opportunity to investigate environmental processes. Examples come from a range of hydrologic, atmospheric, and geophysical problems. The emphasis is on simple examples and calculations that add to understanding. The book provides a sense for the meaning of mathematical expressions, a physical feel for their relations to processes, and confidence in working with mathematical solutions. The goal of this book, in essence, is to present the timeless basic physical and mathematical principles and philosophy of environmental modeling, often to students who need to be taught how to think in a different way than they would for more narrowly-defined engineering or physics problems. Minimum prerequisites for the student reader include a knowledge of calculus through differential equations, but the book provides the mathematical and physical tools needed as the occasion arises.

1. Philosophy and approach
2. Thoughts on use of data
3. Models as a framework for study of data
4. Length and time scales
5. Mechanisms of change
6. Dimensional analysis
7. Mathematical instruments of change
8. Derivatives and scales
9. Integral theorems and volume kinematics
10. Mass conservation
11. Species mass conservation
12. Statement of conservation of momentum
13. Conservation of total energy
14. Mixed scale modeling
15. Porous media and groundwater systems
16. Advection-dispersion equation solution
17. Stability revisited.

Subject Areas: Geochemistry [RBGK], Volcanology & seismology [RBC], Earth sciences [RB]