Denmark obtains significant pre-seasonal quantities of birch pollen from either Poland or Germany almost every year. Forecasting of birch pollen quantities relevant to allergy patients must therefore, take into account long-range transport. This cannot be based on measured concentrations in Denmark. The most effective way to improve the current Danish pollen forecasts is to extend the current forecasts with atmospheric transport models that take into account pollen emission and transport from countries such as Germany and Poland. Unless long-range transport is taken into account, pre-seasonal pollen episodes will have a full allergic impact, as the allergy patients in general will be unprotected during that time.

Current aerobiological research applies the hypothesis that the main source of atmospheric birch (Betula) pollen is forest trees. Our results indicate that the measured levels in Copenhagen are not only due to birch trees in Danish forests but that the urban areas also seem to be a significant source of birch pollen. A number of episodes in 2003 with enhanced pollen levels in Copenhagen seem to be associated with parks and gardens inside and just outside the city. Our results also indicate one long-range transport episode from remote sources in Poland and Germany. Finally, our results show that the pollen levels vary considerably over the day and geographically between Copenhagen and the city of Roskilde, 40 km away. We suggest, that these differences in time and space in the pollen levels are mapped using an integrated monitoring strategy.

Abstract. This study examines the hypothesis that Danish agricultural areas are the main source of airborne Alternaria spores in Copenhagen, Denmark. We suggest that the contribution to the overall load is mainly local or regional, but with intermittent long distance transport (LDT) from more remote agricultural areas. This hypothesis is supported by investigating a 10 yr bi-hourly record of Alternaria spores in the air from Copenhagen. This record shows 232 clinically relevant episodes (daily average spore concentration above 100 m −3 ) with a distinct daily profile. The data analysis also revealed potential LDT episodes almost every year. A source map and analysis of atmospheric transport suggest that LDT always originates from the main agricultural areas in Central Europe. A dedicated emission study in cereal crops under harvest during 2010 also supports our hypothesis. The emission study showed that although the fields had been treated against fungal infections, harvesting still produced large amounts of airborne fungal spores. It is likely that such harvesting periods can cause clinically relevant levels of fungal spores in the atmosphere. Our findings suggest that crop harvest in Central Europe causes episodes of high airborne Alternaria spore concentrations in Copenhagen as well as other urban areas in this region. It is likely that such episodes could be simulated using atmospheric transport models.

No abstract

We examine here the hypothesis that during flowering, the grass pollen concentrations at a specific site reflect the distribution of grass pollen sources within a few kilometres of this site. We perform this analysis on data from a measurement campaign in the city of Aarhus (Denmark) using three pollen traps and by comparing these observations with a novel inventory of grass pollen sources. The source inventory is based on a new methodology developed for urban-scale grass pollen sources. The new methodology is believed to be generally applicable for the European area, as it relies on commonly available remote sensing data combined with management information for local grass areas. The inventory has identified a number of grass pollen source areas present within the city domain. The comparison of the measured pollen concentrations with the inventory shows that the atmospheric concentrations of grass pollen in the urban zone reflect the source areas identified in the inventory, and that the pollen sources that are found to affect the pollen levels are located near or within the city domain. The results also show that during days with peak levels of pollen concentrations there is no correlation between the three urban traps and an operational trap located just 60 km away. This finding suggests that during intense flowering, the grass pollen concentration mirrors the local source distribution and is thus a local-scale phenomenon. Model simulations aimed at assessing population exposure to pollen levels are therefore recommended to take into account both local sources and local atmospheric transport, and not to rely only on describing regional to long-range transport of pollen. The derived pollen source inventory can be entered into local-scale atmospheric transport models in combination with other components that simulate pollen release in order to calculate urban-scale variations in the grass pollen load. The gridded inventory with a resolution of 14 m is therefore made available as supplementary material to this paper, and the verifying grass pollen observations are additionally available in tabular form

No abstract

We examine here the hypothesis that during flowering, the grass pollen concentrations at a specific site reflect the distribution of grass pollen sources within a few kilometres from this site. We perform this analysis on data from a measurement campaign in the city of Aarhus (Denmark) using three pollen traps and by comparing these observations with a novel inventory of grass pollen sources. The source inventory is based on a new methodology developed for urban scale grass pollen sources. The new methodology is believed to be generally applicable for the European area, as it relies on commonly available remote sensing data combined with management information for local grass areas. The inventory has identified a number of grass pollen source areas present within the city domain. The comparison of the measured pollen concentrations with the inventory shows that the atmospheric concentrations of grass pollen in the urban zone reflects the source areas identified in the inventory, and that these pollen sources that are found to affect the pollen levels are located near and within the city domain. The results also show that during days with peak levels of pollen concentrations, there is no correlation between the three urban traps and an operational trap located just 60 km away. This finding suggests that during intense flowering, the grass pollen concentration mirrors the local source distribution, and is thus a local scale phenomenon. Model simulations aiming at assessment of population exposure to pollen levels are therefore recommended to take into account both local sources and local atmospheric transport, and not rely only on describing regional to long-range transport of pollen. The derived pollen source inventory can be entered into local scale atmospheric transport models in combination with other components that simulates pollen release in order to calculate urban scale variations in the grass pollen load. The gridded inventory with a resolution of 14 m is therefore made available as supplementary material to this paper, and the verifying grass pollen observations are in additional available in tabular form

Background. Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. is a noxious invasive alien species in Europe. It is an important aeroallergen and millions of people are exposed to its pollen. Objective. The main aim of this study is to show that atmospheric concentrations of Ambrosia pollen recorded in Denmark can be derived from local or more distant sources. Methods. This was achieved by using a combination of pollen measurements, air mass trajectory calculations using the HYPLIT model and mapping all known Ambrosia locations in Denmark and relating them to land cover types. Results. The annual pollen index recorded in Copenhagen during a 15-year period varied from a few pollen grains to more than 100. Since 2005, small quantities of Ambrosia pollen has been observed in the air every year. We have demonstrated, through a combination of Lagrangian back-trajectory calculations and atmospheric pollen measurements, that pollen arrived in Denmark via long-distance transport from centres of Ambrosia infection, such as the Pannonian Plain and Ukraine. Combining observations with results from a local scale dispersion model show that it is possible that Ambrosia pollen could be derived from local sources identified within Denmark. Conclusions. The high allergenic capacity of Ambrosia pollen means that only small amounts of pollen are relevant for allergy sufferers, and just a few plants will be sufficient to produce enough pollen to affect pollen allergy sufferers within a short distance from the source. It is necessary to adopt control measures to restrict Ambrosia numbers. Recommendations for the removal of all Ambrosia plants can effectively reduce the amount of local pollen, as long as the population of Ambrosia plants is small.