Application of Backward Air Mass Trajectory Analysis in Evaluating Airborne Pollen Dispersion

Abstract

To investigate airborne pollen movement aerobiologists use backward air mass trajectories. In the present paper the peculiarities of airborne birch pollen dispersion are analysed. In 2005 at Šiauliai Aerobiology Station pollen was recorded using Hirst‐type spore trap. The situation of birch bloom in neighbouring European countries was evaluated according to the European Aeroallergen Network database. It was generalized and used to prove long‐range pollen transport. Air mass trajectories were calculated according to the HYSPLIT 4 model the trajectory drawing principle of which is based on the integration of the position of air mass with regard to time. The present study has shown that backward air mass trajectory analysis may be applied in investigating relationship among pollen dispersion, meteorological conditions and air mass transport. It is estimated that at Šiauliai Aerobiology Station the dynamics of pollen concentration is determinated by local flora and airborne pollen long‐range transport. The evaluation of pollen dispersion by the backward air mass trajectory method presented in the paper established precondition to look for possibilities of application of the HYSPLIT 4 model to prepare the forecasts of pollen dispersion.

Allergenic Pollen

“…The backward trajectory methodology has been used for studying the origin of the observed pollen by Gassmann and Pérez ( 2006 ) for Celtis and Nothofagus pollen in Argentina, by and for Ambrosia in Poland, by Skjøth et al ( 2007 ) for birch in Poland, by Šaulienė and Veriankaitė ( 2006 ) and Veriankaité et al ( 2010 ) for birch in Lithuania, by Cecchi et al ( 2007 ) for Ambrosia in Central Italy, by and Skjøth et al ( 2007Skjøth et al ( , 2008b for birch in Denmark, by Skjøth et al ( 2009 ) for birch in London, etc. The bulk of the works were based on inverse trajectories computed by the NOAA HYSPLIT model (Draxler and Hess 2010 ) , but also by own systems, such as THOR (Skjøth et al 2002 ) in Denmark.…”

Harvesting Betulaceae sequences from GenBank to generate a new chronogram for the family

“…Ford, Sharik & Feret, ; Hjelmroos, ; Matlack, ), partly facilitated by climates with continuous ice/snow covers during winter (D‐ and E‐type climates; see also Supporting Information, SI 4), allowing for secondary dispersal (Matlack, ). Birch pollen can be detected across Scandinavia before the flowering season of local birch populations (Hjelmroos, ; Skjøth et al ., ) and backward trajectory analyses suggest pollen dispersal over long distances in north‐eastern Europe (Šauliene & Veriankaite, ) and north‐western Europe (Skjøth et al ., ). Betula is also the most cold‐tolerant genus of Northern Hemisphere Fagales, with some species extending into high‐alpine and arctic environments (Dfc, Dfd, ET climates according to Köppen–Geiger; Kottek et al ., ; see also Supporting Information, SI 4).…”

Modelling analysis of source regions of long-range transported birch pollen that influences allergenic seasons in Lithuania

“…The most common method for tracing the transport of airborne pollen is forward or backward trajectory modelling using various Lagrangian trajectory models, such as the HYSPLIT model, which has been developed by the Air Resources Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( Van de Water and Levetin 2001;Gassmann and Pérez 2006;Š aulien_ e and Veriankait_ e 2006;Cecchi et al 2007;Mahura et al 2007). A more sophisticated methodology for a quantitative analysis of the observational footprints is adjoint dispersion modelling, which is based on numerical solution of the adjoint (inverse) dispersion equation (Marchuk 1982).…”