Synoptic and local meteorology influence on pollen concentration in a mountain valley in Central Italy: hints for localization of main sources

Abstract

Anemophilous pollen is one of the main causes of allergy by sensitive subjects. Due to the early and prolonged pollen season due to climate change, there is a potentially increasing risk for the European population (Lake et al., 2017). In this work, pollen and meteorological data have been associated in order to identify the favourable conditions for increasing pollen concentration. We use of the classification software from the COST733 action to classify each day of the studied period (2016-2018) among nine weather regimes. The use of a Performance Index (PI) made it possible to relate the pollen concentration to the synoptic classes and thus to associate a higher pollen concentration to a high-pressure condition. In addition, by combining wind roses and a detailed land cover thematic map, we identify the location of main potential pollen sources. The results encourage further analysis of pollen dispersal in response to climate change.

Influence of Synoptic Meteorology on Airborne Allergenic Pollen and Spores in an Urban Environment in Northeastern Iberian Peninsula

“…Principal Component Analysis of the pressure and geopotential fields revealed the synoptic configurations that caused the entry of extremely cold and hot air masses into the IP (Mohammed et al, 2018). In the recent years, similar techniques based on clusters of circulation types have been applied to interpret pollen levels in a mountain valley in Central Italy (Pace et al, 2022). Ojrzynska et al (2020) have studied the influence of synoptic and local meteorology on the Betula and Alnus pollen concentrations in Wroclaw, Poland.…”