Relationship between the Péczely's large‐scale weather types and airborne pollen grain concentrations for Szeged, Hungary

Abstract

This paper discusses a subjectively defined system of air mass types, the 13 Péczely's large-scale weather situations over the Carpathian Basin in relation to the detected airborne pollen grain concentrations. Based on the ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) sea-level pressure data set, daily sea-level pressure fields analyzed at 00:00 UTC were prepared for each Péczely's weather types in order to relate the sea-level pressure patterns with the average pollen levels in Szeged. The data basis for this study comprises daily values of 12 meteorological parameters and daily average pollen concentrations for 24 species in a 5-year period (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001). It was found that Péczely's anticyclonic ridge types 2 and 11 as well as cyclonic types 4 and 7 are favourable for pollen production and dispersal unlike the cyclonic types 3 and 13. Hence, the Péczely's large-scale weather situations cannot alone be considered as an overall system in predicting pollen concentrations.

Shift in the Annual Growth Cycle of Grapevines (Vitis Vinifera L.) in West Hungary

“…For this test, the winegrowers give us data and a database was created by us about the cyclonic and anticyclonic days, 60 days preceding the harvests, based on Péczely's large-scale weather types (Makra et al, 2007).…”

Urban Air Quality, Long Term Trends and Road Traffic Air Pollution Modeling of Szeged

“…Accordingly, for the classification of pollen release of the species, neither the cyclonic nor the anticyclonic weather types show a clear character within the objective and the subjective weather classification systems. On the other hand, for classifying the chemical pollutants, the objective types with anticyclonic character are effective in both extreme seasons (Makra et al, 2006a), while Péczely's cyclonic and anticyclonic types have an emphasized role only in winter, whereas they are inefficient in summer (Makra et al, 2007a). When disregarding anticyclonic and cyclonic character of the weather types and taking into account pairwise comparisons for each type, efficiency of the pollen related objective air mass types seems to be much higher than that of Péczely's weather types.…”

“…When considering pollen release of the species considered in the pollination period, some objective and subjective weather types are favourable, while others are negligible in the classification of pollen levels. On the other hand, when analysing levels of the chemical pollutants: (1) objective types with anticyclonic character are mostly favourable both in winter and summer, while those with cyclonic character are mostly negligible in winter (Makra et al, 2006a); (2) Péczely's anticyclonic types in winter are mostly favourable, while cyclonic ones are mostly negligible in classification of pollutant levels; at the same time, in the summer none of them is predominant (Makra et al, 2007a). Hence, while the objective weather types have a significant role, Péczely's large-scale weather situations cannot be considered as an overall system in the categorization of pollutants concentrations.…”

“…This would not be the case if some large industrial units had started or ceased operation in the neighbouring countries and thus the long-range transport of pollutants had modified the pre-existing atmospheric situation in Szeged; however, such great changes, according to our knowledge, did not occur during the study period. On the basis of previous works, connection of both the objectively determined air-mass types (Makra et al, 2006a;) and the subjectively defined Péczely's weather types (Makra et al, 2007a;2007b) on the one hand, and pollen grain and chemical pollutants concentrations in Szeged, on the other, detected that pollen and chemical pollutant levels can be associated to different pressure patterns ruling the region examined. When considering pollen release of the species considered in the pollination period, some objective and subjective weather types are favourable, while others are negligible in the classification of pollen levels.…”

Influences of meteorological parameters and biological and chemical air pollutants on the incidence of asthma and rhinitis

“…While the levels of chemical air pollutants are uniform over the entire year, the effect of pollen depends on the term of pollen dispersion, which is strongly related to the climate/weather-related phenological phases of the plant. In Szeged, the pollen of some species can cause increased sensitivity from the beginning of February until the end of October (Makra et al 2007). …”