Study of the meteorological mechanisms controlling levels and transport processes of airborne pollen in the atmosphere

• Main Author: Majeed, Husam Tareq
• Other Authors: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament de Física, Alarcón Jordán, Marta, Periago Oliver, M. Cristina
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya 2018
• Subjects: Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Física; Arctic; Climate change; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2117/123520; http://hdl.handle.net/10803/663451; https://doi.org/10.5821/dissertation-2117-123520

Aerobiology is the science that focuses on the study of the airborne living organisms (bacteria, fungal spores, pollen, small insects, etc.). The influence of meteorology and climate change on plant phenology include shifts in the timing of the pollination seasons or an increase of the pollen production of different plants. The present study explores the role of meteorological variability in the pollen dynamics. The main standardized pollen parameters (Annual Pollen Integral (APIn), Start, End and Length of the main pollen season) of 22 taxa collected by the Xarxa Aerobiològica de Catalunya (XAC) at 6 stations in Catalonia (Barcelona (BCN), Bellaterra (BTU), Girona (GIC), Lleida (LLE), Manresa (MAN) and Tarragona (TAU)) during the 18-year period from 1994 to 2011, have been considered. Correlations between precipitation, insolation and temperature and the main pollen parameters have been investigated. The results obtained report the synchronism registered in the variations of pollen concentration with precipitation (negative), insolation (positive) and temperature (positive). Temperature was the meteorological variable that showed a greater influence in the pollen production and the timing of the pollen season, being insolation the least one. The Start of the main pollen season was the pollen parameter more correlated with the meteorological variables, especially with winter temperatures. The influence of the climate variability associated with Northern Hemisphere teleconnection patterns (North Atlantic Oscillation, Arctic Oscillation and Western Mediterranean Oscillation) over the main pollen parameters has been also investigated. For most of the taxa, positive phases of the 3 climatic indices were related to a decrease in the APIn and an advance and enlargement of the main pollen season. Furthermore, negative phases of the climatic indices were linked to higher pollen production via an increase in rainfall. In order to study the effect of local winds, 12 pollen types with sources are situated near the stations ...