Topic outline

  • Week 3: Environmental Hydraulics

    Week 3 of WAT course deals with environmental hydraulics and environmentally sound hydraulic engineering. They form a rapidly developing research domain with an objective to protect and restore quality of the environment when using water resources. We seek to improve our understanding of the dynamics and processes of water, sediment, vegetation, nutrients, and harmful substances in the hydro-environment. The proper understanding of the associated physical, chemical and biological attributes and processes is the basis for the development of reliable modelling tools for river hydraulics, and sediment and pollutant transport. At the Aalto University, environmental hydraulics is a transdisciplinary field combining technological, environmental, economical, and societal interests in a wide context. Our studies cover both natural and built environments, in particular rivers, agricultural channels, and urban water features.

    This week focuses on experimental research methods using the Environmental Hydraulics Flow Channel. You will learn how laboratory and field-scale experiments and numerical models can be used to develop potential engineering solutions to transdisciplinary problems, with a view on nature-based solutions (NBS). The broader context is treated with help of an article-based task. We'll wrap on Friday discussing both general concepts and detailed analyses.

    Two exercises are organized in this week: 

      • 1) Weekly exercise: Flume assignment (group work; DL on Thursday) 
      • 2) Thematic task: Article-based task (individual work; DL on Friday). 

    General schedule for the week is shown in the figure, followed by the detailed daily schedule below.

    • Detailed schedule (changes possible)

      All sessions are online in the course Zoom (additionally there is a possibility to visit the Environmental Hydraulics Lab but this visit is postponed to late autumn or early winter so that all students have a chance to participate)

      Monday 21.9.

      9:00 lecture sets the context of environmental hydraulics and environmentally sound hydraulic engineering; intro to the article-based task
      13:00 session covers experimental methods and data analyses including measurement uncertainty; intro to the flume assignment

      Tuesday 22.9.

      Flume groups (~1hr each; when your group is not attending a teaching session, you should work independently on the article-based task and/or flume assignment)
      9:00 group 1
      10:30 group 2
      13:00 group 3

      Wednesday 23.9.

      Flume groups (~1hr each; when your group is not attending a teaching session, you should work independently on the article-based task and/or flume assignment)
      9:00 group 4
      10:30 group 5
      13:00 group 6

      Thursday 24.9.

      10:00-12:00 Helpdesk (voluntary)
      19:00 Flume assignment DL

      Friday 25.9.

      9:00 Wrap-up of the flume assignment (all groups together)
      19:00 Article-based task DL


    • Lecture material

    • Not available unless: You are a(n) Student
      Assignment icon
      Thematic task: Article-based task Assignment
    • Not available unless: You are a(n) Student
      Assignment icon
      Weekly exercise: Flume assignment
◄ Previous section
Week 2: Hydrology and water resources management
Next section ►
Week 4: Environmental management and sustainability