Biography
I am a post-graduate researcher based in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Leeds working with Dr Daniel Stone on developing instrumentation to produce long-term measurements of OH reactivity. I previously completed my Masters in chemistry at the University of York.
Qualifications
2018 – 2022: Masters in Chemistry, the Atmosphere and the Environment from the University of York
Research Interests
The chemical composition of the troposphere, measurements of atmospheric oxidants, box modelling, air quality
Project Title
Long-term measurements of OH reactivity: A potential new metric for air quality?
Supervisors
Dr Daniel Stone, Dr Lisa Whalley, Professor Dwayne Heard
Project outline
OH reactivity, the pseudo-first order rate constant of the reaction of OH with all reactive atmospheric species, is a very useful measurement in air quality research, as it is a way to determine the total pollutant loading in air masses. However, current instruments for measuring OH reactivity are often too costly and complex for long-term use, as they require constant staffing.
This project involves developing and characterising a new pump-probe OH reactivity instrument utilising UV-absorption spectroscopy. This instrument will be cheaper and more mobile than other pump-probe instruments, which commonly utilise laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectroscopy, and is therefore more suited for long-term OH reactivity measurements. The instrument will be implemented in the urban air quality research laboratory in Birmingham and long-term measurements will be taken over a year-long period. These reactivity measurements will then be compared against box-model simulations using the Master Chemical Mechanism to determine whether long-term measurements of OH reactivity are a useful air quality metric.