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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2010/2011
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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Geosciences : Earth Science

Undergraduate Course: Computational Modelling for Geosciences (EASC09035)

Course Outline
School School of Geosciences College College of Science and Engineering
Course type Standard Availability Available to all students
Credit level (Normal year taken) SCQF Level 9 (Year 3 Undergraduate) Credits 10
Home subject area Earth Science Other subject area Geosciences
Course website None Taught in Gaelic? No
Course description The aim of the new course would be to teach the Students an interpreted language with integrated plotting tools. Such languages are widely used in Geoscience research and enable scientists to be highly productive. (See ?teachability? for more details). It would also teach some simple software engineering principles in order to help the students program more effectively. The latter half of the course would teach some numerical methods. These would use the tools taught in the first half of the course and be applied to simple Geoscience modelling problems.

The numerical methods part of the course has three aims:

1) Develop student?s knowledge of numerical methods.
2) Give the students an environment in which to develop their software skills.
3) Give them some limited appreciation of computational modelling
Entry Requirements
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Applicable Mathematics 3 (Phys Sci) (MATH08015) AND Mathematical Methods 3 (Phys Sci) (MATH08016)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs None.
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites None
Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Delivery period: 2010/11 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1) WebCT enabled:  Yes Quota:  None
Location Activity Description Weeks Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
King's BuildingsLaboratory1-11 10:00 - 13:00
King's BuildingsLecture1-11 09:00 - 09:50
First Class Week 2, Tuesday, 09:00 - 09:50, Zone: King's Buildings. Crew Computer Lab
Additional information 6 hour(s) per week for 3 week(s).
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours:Minutes Stationery Requirements Comments
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)Computational Modelling for Geosciences1:002 x 4 sides
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
A comprehensive and integrated overview of numerical methods used in Geosciences so that students&© gain:

1. An ability to use interpreted language (Matlab) to apply numerical methods to problems in Geosciences
2. An ability to use interpreted language (Matlab) to visualise Geoscience data
3. A basic understanding of some software engineering ideas
4. An understanding of basic numerical methods:
a. Linear-algebra
b. Least-squares fitting for 1D problem
c. Minimisation techniques for 1D and 2D problems
d. Explicit methods for solving 1D ODE&©s
5. A basic understanding of numerical stability, accuracy, convergence and computational complexity in numerical methods
6. A knowledge of how to apply the techniques of computational modelling to simple Geoscience modelling problems
Assessment Information
Two coursework assignments (20% & 30%) and one degree exam (50%).
Special Arrangements
None
Additional Information
Academic description Not entered
Syllabus Not entered
Transferable skills Not entered
Reading list Not entered
Study Abroad Not entered
Study Pattern Not entered
Keywords Not entered
Contacts
Course organiser Prof Simon Tett
Tel:
Email: Simon.Tett@ed.ac.uk
Course secretary Miss Emma Latto
Tel: (0131 6)50 8510
Email: emma.latto@ed.ac.uk
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copyright 2011 The University of Edinburgh - 31 January 2011 7:32 am