Book excerpt: Free Surface Flow: Environmental Fluid Mechanics introduces a wide range of environmental fluid flows, such as water waves, land runoff, channel flow, and effluent discharge. The book provides systematic analysis tools and basic skills for study fluid mechanics in natural and constructed environmental flows. As the prediction of changes in free surfaces in rivers, lakes, estuaries and in the ocean directly affects the design of structures that control surface waters, and because planning for the allocation of fresh-water resources in a sustainable manner is an essential goal, this book provides the necessary background and research. - Helps users determine the transfer of solute mass through the air-water interface - Presents tactics on the impact of free shear flow in the environment and how to quantify mixing mechanisms in turbulent jets and wakes - Gives users tactics to predict the fate and transport of contaminants in stratified lakes and estuaries