The atmospheric system: early evolution, vertical structure, lapse rate and stability, scale height, geopotential, boundary layer dynamics. Atmospheric transport: geostrophic flow, general circulation, turbulence, vertical mixing, spatial and temporal scales of transport. Concepts of tropospheric chemistry: fundamentals of spectroscopy, photochemistry and kinetics, the oxidation capacity of the atmosphere, chemical lifetimes of trace species in the atmosphere. Gas-phase tropospheric chemistry: the NOx and NOy families, daytime and nighttime behaviour, basic photochemical cycles of NO2, NO and O3, atmospheric chemistry of CO, the tropospheric O3 budget and the role of VOC-CO-NOx, PAN and photochemical smog, SO2 and acid rain. Atmospheric aerosols: the size distribution function, the mass, number, surface area and volume distributions, urban/rural/marine/remote aerosols, primary and secondary sources, scavenging, residence times and long-range transport, optical properties. Global climate change: radiative forcing fundamentals, the role of aerosols and well-mixed gases, forcing estimates, uncertainties, model-data intercomparisons, policy frameworks, the 2C challenge. Local and regional air quality: historical perspectives, emission sources (local/regional/global scales), criteria and non-criteria pollutants, the role of aerosol chemical composition, major aerosol constituents, source tracers, case studies. Air pollution-related health risks: acute and chronic effects, health risk assessment (hazard quotients, hazard indices, inhalation cancer risk). Air quality legislation: international and national frameworks, emission controls, ambient limits, air quality indices, public perception, a case study of India, NAAQS. New directions: emerging areas in atmospheric science research. |