Professor William Bloss PhD

William Bloss

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Professor of Atmospheric Science

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 4173 (Research Office)
Email
w.j.bloss@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
@AtmosChemUoB
View my research portal
Address
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

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

My group's work improves scientific understanding of the causes of poor air quality, and hence the development of effective policy measures for Clean Air.  We focus upon the sources of atmospheric pollutants, and the chemical processes which remove some air pollutants and produce others.

Please see my Personal Research Pages and the WM-Air project for more details.

Qualifications

  • PhD Atmospheric Chemistry - University of Cambridge
  • BA Natural Sciences (Chemistry) - University of Cambridge

Teaching

BSc Environmental Sciences

MSc Air Pollution Management and Control

Postgraduate supervision

Please contact me if you are interested in studying for a PhD with the group. For more information see my personal research pages at : http://www.williambloss.com

Research

Atmospheric processing affects the current and future composition of our air, with impacts upon human and environmental health, air quality and climate.  My research group addresses areas of atmospheric chemistry and clean air science, including

​- Understanding the sources and transformations of air pollutants in the urban atmosphere, ranging from trends in the UK to developing megacities such as Delhi

​- Quantifying the sources and sinks for atmospheric oxidants: impacts from processes such as new reactive nitrogen emissions and particulate-mediated renoxification

​- Applying air pollution science to improve local and regional air quality policy measures

​Our work combines atmospheric field measurements, simulation chamber and laboratory studies and numerical modelling approaches.  Fundamental understanding of the atmospheric chemical system is placed in an applied context: working with partners to apply clean air science for improved human and environmental health.

See also my personal research pages and the WM-Air Project

Other activities

  • Royal Society of Chemistry: CChem, FRSC
  • RSC Environmental Chemistry Group (Chair, 2012 – 2014)
  • Member, RSC Environment, Sustainability and Energy Division Council
  • Member, NERC Core Peer Review College
  • Head of School, GEES (2016-2020)

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Shi, Z, Song, C, Liu, B, Lu, G, Xu, J, VU, VT, Elliott, RJR, Li, W, Bloss, W & Harrison, R 2021, 'Abrupt but smaller than expected changes in surface air quality attributable to COVID-19 lockdowns', Science Advances, vol. 7, no. 3, eabd6696. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abd6696

Campbell, SJ, Wolfer, K, Utinger, B, Westwood, J, Zhang, Z, Bukowiecki, N, Steimer, SS, Vu, TV, Xu, J, Straw, N, Thomson, S, Elzein, A, Sun, Y, Liu, D, Li, L, Fu, P, Lewis, AC, Harrison, RM, Bloss, WJ, Loh, M, Miller, MR, Shi, Z & Kalberer, M 2021, 'Atmospheric conditions and composition that influence PM2.5 oxidative potential in Beijing, China', Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol. 21, no. 7, pp. 5549-5573. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5549-2021

Hama, S, Kumar, P, Alam, MS, Rooney, DJ, Bloss, WJ, Shi, Z, Harrison, RM, Crilley, LR, Khare, M & Gupta, SK 2021, 'Chemical source profiles of fine particles for five different sources in Delhi', Chemosphere, vol. 274, 129913. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.129913

Singh, A, Crilley, L, Pope, F & Bloss, W 2021, 'Insights into HONO sources from observations during a solar eclipse', Environmental Science: Atmospheres. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1ea00010a

Bloss, WJ, Kramer, L, Crilley, LR, Vu, T, Harrison, RM, Shi, Z, Lee, JD, Squires, FA, Whalley, LK, Slater, E, Woodward-Massey, R, Ye, C, Heard, DE, Tong, S, Hou, S, Sun, Y, Xu, J, Wei, L & Fu, P 2021, 'Insights into air pollution chemistry and sulphate formation from nitrous acid (HONO) measurements during haze events in Beijing', Faraday Discussions, vol. 226, pp. 223-238. https://doi.org/10.1039/D0FD00100G

Zhong, J, Hood, C, Johnson, K, Stocker, J, Handley, J, Wolstencroft, M, Mazzeo, A, Cai, X & Bloss, WJ 2021, 'Using task farming to optimise a street-scale resolution air quality model of the West Midlands (UK)', ATMOSPHERE, vol. 12, no. 8, 983. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12080983

Sommariva, R, Kramer, LJ, Crilley, LR, Alam, MS & Bloss, WJ 2020, 'An instrument for in situ measurement of total ozone reactivity', Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 1655-1670. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1655-2020

Sommariva, R, Cox, S, Martin, C, Borońska, K, Young, J, Jimack, PK, Pilling, MJ, Matthaios, VN, Nelson, BS, Newland, MJ, Panagi, M, Bloss, WJ, Monks, PS & Rickard, AR 2020, 'AtChem (version 1), an open-source box model for the Master Chemical Mechanism', Geoscientific Model Development, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 169-183. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-169-2020

Crilley, LR, Singh, A, Kramer, LJ, Shaw, MD, Alam, MS, Apte, JS, Bloss, WJ, Hildebrandt Ruiz, L, Fu, P, Fu, W, Gani, S, Gatari, M, Ilyinskaya, E, Lewis, AC, Ng'ang'a, D, Sun, Y, Whitty, RCW, Yue, S, Young, S & Pope, FD 2020, 'Effect of aerosol composition on the performance of low-cost optical particle counter correction factors', Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 1181-1193. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1181-2020

Comment/debate

Rami Alfarra, M, Bloss, WJ, Chan, C, Chen, Y, Gani, S, Han, Y, Harrison, RM, Khan, MAH, Kim, S, Lee, J, Pfrang, C, Poschl, U, Shi, Z, Styring, P, Van Pinxteren, D, Wallington, TJ & Zhu, T 2021, 'General discussion: sources, sinks and mitigation methods; Evaluation of health impacts', Faraday Discussions, vol. 226, pp. 607-616. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1FD90012A

Bloss, W, Brimblecombe, P, Chen, Y, Coe, H, Gani, S, Gen, M, Grimmond, S, Harrison, R, McFiggans, G, Mihaylova, L, Pfrang, C, Shi, Z, Slater, J, Srivastava, D, Styring, P, Velasco, E, Wang, P & Yu, JZ 2021, 'General discussion: Urban air quality; meteorological influences and air quality trends', Faraday Discussions, vol. 226, pp. 191-206. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1FD90014E

Alshammari, D, Bloss, W, Chen, Y, Chow, JC, Gani, S, Harrison, R, Hu, D, Li, G, McFiggans, G, Milsom, A, Oyarzun Aravena, AM, Pfrang, C, Shi, Z, Srivastava, D, Styring, P, Su, H, Watson, JG & Xu, J 2021, 'General discussion: Multiphase atmospheric chemistry, and source apportionment', Faraday Discussions, vol. 226, pp. 314-333. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1FD90015C

Commissioned report

Acton, J, Anderson, P, Andres, L, Angus, M, Amor, P, Arrowsmith, J (ed.), Asmelash, H, Bartington, S (ed.), Bengtsson, F, Bhullar, L, Bloss, W, Bonet, B, Börner, S, O Bonsu, N, Bryson, JR, Burns, V, Burrows, A, Calvert, C, Cassidy, N, Cavoski, A, Chadyiwa, M, Chapman, H, Chapman, L, Cockram, M, Degendardt, L, Dickinson, D, Ding, Y, Dobrzynski, D, Dolo, M, Dora, J, Ercolani, M, Ersoy, A, Farag, H, Ferranti, E, Fisher, R, Freer, M, Goldmann, N, Goode, CE, Greenham, S, Gulati, S, Hadfield-Hill, S, Harper, G, Hegerl, G, Hillmansen, S, Holmes, J, Huang, JJ, Huser, C, Jackson, R, Jaroszweski, D, Jefferson, I, Johnson, J, Kaewunruen, S, Kelly-Akinnuoye, F, Kettles, G, Kraftl, P, Krause, S, Leckebusch, GC, Lee, R, Lockwood, B (ed.), Lohse, J, Luna Diez, E, Lynch, I (ed.), MacKenzie, R, Maddison, D, Makepeace, J, Mann, V, Marino, R, Mavronicola, N, McDonald, M, McGowan, K (ed.), Metje, N, Ng, K, Nicol, J, O'Sullivan, C, Phalkey, N, Prestwood, E, Pyatt, N, Quinn, A, Radcliffe, J (ed.), Ravi, M, Reardon, L, Reeder, T, O’Regan, P, Remedios, L, Roberts, J, Rogers, C, Rungskunroch, P, van Schaik, W, Swan, J (ed.), Thomson, I, Toft, H (ed.), Tong, J, Botello Villagrana, F, Walton, A, Wason, C (ed.), Weir, C, Wood, R & Zhong, J 2021, Addressing the climate challenge. University of Birmingham. https://doi.org/10.25500/epapers.bham.00003451

Working paper

Shi 时宗波, Z, Xu 徐婧莎, J, Harrison, R, Bloss, W, Allan, J, Barratt, B, Coe, H, Doherty, R, Fu 傅平青, P, Grimmond, S, Guan 关大博, D, Guo 郭新彪, X, Hamilton, J, He 贺克斌, K, Heard, D, Hewitt, N, Jones, R, Kalberer, M, Kelly, F, Lee, J, Lewis, A, Li 李杰, J, Loh, M, Miller, M, Monks, P, Netmitz, E, Palmer, P, Reeves, C, Shao 邵龙义, L, Sun 孙志伟, Z, Tao 陶澍, S, Tong 佟胜睿, S, Whalley, L, Wang 王新明, X, Wild, O, Wu 吴志军, Z, Xie 谢品华, P, Zhang 张强, Q, Zheng 郑玫, M & Zhu 朱彤, T 2021 'Atmospheric pollution and human health in a Chinese megacity (APHH-Beijing) programme: final report' University of Birmingham. https://doi.org/10.25500/epapers.bham.00003381

Shi 时宗波, Z, Xu 徐婧莎, J, Harrison, R, Bloss, W, Allan, J, Barratt, B, Coe, H, Doherty, R, Fu 傅平青, P, Grimmond, S, Guan 关大博, D, Guo 郭新彪, X, Hamilton, J, He 贺克斌, K, Heard, D, Hewitt, N, Jones, R, Kalberer, M, Kelly, F, Lee, J, Lewis, A, Li 李杰, J, Loh, M, Miller, M, Monks, P, Netmitz, E, Palmer, P, Reeves, C, Shao 邵龙义, L, Sun 孙志伟, Z, Tao 陶澍, S, Tong 佟胜睿, S, Whalley, L, Wang 王新明, X, Wang 王学军, X, Wild, O, Wu 吴志军, Z, Xie 谢品华, P, Zhang 张强, Q, Zheng 郑玫, M & Zhu 朱彤, T 2021 '中国超大城市空气污染和人体健康 (APHH-Beijing) 中英联合研究计划: 最终报告' University of Birmingham. https://doi.org/10.25500/epapers.bham.00003383

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

Air Quality & Human Health

Sources of air pollutants: Traffic emissions

Air Pollution in Developing Megacities: Beijing, Delhi

Expertise

Air Quality & Human Health; Sources of air pollutants: Traffic emissions; Air Pollution in Developing Megacities: Beijing, Delhi