William Bloss

Professor of Atmospheric Science, University of Birmingham
Research Summary - Professor William Bloss

Atmospheric processing affects the current and future composition of our atmosphere, with impacts upon human and environmental health, air quality and climate.

My group's work improves understanding of the causes of poor air quality. We focus upon the sources of pollutants, and the atmospheric chemical processes which remove some air pollutants and produce others. Our science informs the development of effective policy measures to improve air quality.

- Understanding the sources and transformations of air pollutants such as Particulate Matter and Nitrogen Dioxide in the urban atmosphere, ranging from the UK to developing megacities such as Delhi

- Quantifying the sources and sinks for atmospheric oxidants

- Applying air pollution science to improve local and regional air quality policy measures, to ensure these can most effectively and efficiently improve human and environmental health

Work in the group combines atmospheric field measurements, simulation chamber and laboratory studies and numerical modelling approaches; we currently have an emphasis upon developing new integrated approaches to assess chemical processing (a complement to the traditional focus upon species abundance).

While we are aiming to achieve fundamental understanding of the atmospheric chemical system, our work also takes place in an applied context: providing the knowledge to underpin policy development to alleviate air pollution.

William Bloss obtained his BA in Natural Sciences (Chemistry) and PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Cambridge. His PhD research concerned laboratory studies of atmospheric chemical kinetics. In 1999 he took up a position as a Postdoctoral Scholar at the California Institute of Technology, based at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In 2001 he moved to the School of Chemistry at the University of Leeds, where his research involved field measurements of tropospheric radical species. He joined the University of Birmingham in 2007, where he is Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and lead for the West Midlands Air Quality Improvement Project, WM-Air.