Alicja Stach

The Long Range Transport of Birch (Betula) Pollen from Poland and Germany Causes Significant Pre-season Concentrations in Denmark

Background Birch pollen is highly allergic and has the potential for episodically long‐range transport. Such episodes will in general occur out of the main pollen season. During this time, allergy patients are unprotected and high pollen concentrations will therefore have a full allergenic impact.

Variation in pollen concentration of the mostallergenic taxa in Poznań (Poland), 1995–1996

The airborne pollen concentration of the four mostfrequent and most allergenic taxa in Poland; Alnus, Betula, Poaceae, and Artemisia atPoznań in the years 1995–1996 has been analyzed,using a Hirst-type volumetric spore trap. Theappearance of the earliest pollen producing taxa wasobserved as early as January and February, which isrelevant information for people subject to allergiesin the Poznań region, where Spring usually beginsin March. The periods of high and very high pollenconcentration of individual taxa have been comparedfor the two years.

Climate Change and Evolution of the Pollen Content of the Air in Seven European Countries: the Example of Birch

The aim of this paper is to study the relation between climate change and the earliness of Birch pollination, a tree that produces allergenic pollen, which is of particular importance in north-western Europe. The study allowed us to make projections for the next few years in order to evaluate the evolution of Birch pollination starting date according to spring temperatures. It has been done in ten European locations, Kevo and Turku (Finland), London (United Kingdom), Paris and Lyon (France), Brussels (Belgium), Zurich (Switzerland), Vienna (Austria), Poznan and Cracow (Poland). The study period ranged from six to twenty-eight years depending on the city. Pollens were recorded daily thanks to volumetric Hirst traps, and the data were compared to monthly temperatures from January to May using correlations and multiple regressions. Except in Kevo where the trend is towards colder springs and a later pollination, in the other cities the results showed a spring warming associated with an earlier starting date of pollination: this trend is very well marked in Turku, Zurich, London, Vienna and Brussels, less evident in France while there is no trend in Poland. The results of this work should lead to an updating of the pollen calendars and the pollen forecast models, in the cities where there is a pronounced trend.

Investigating Ambrosia Pollen Episodes in Poland Using Back-Trajectory Analysis

withdrawnBackground: The pollen grains of Ambrosia spp. are considered to be important aeroallergens. Previous studies have shown that the long-range transport of Ambrosia pollen to Poland is intermittent and mainly related to the passage of air masses over the Carpathian and Sudetes mountains from sources to the south, e.g. the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. In this study, Ambrosia pollen counts and back-trajectories from specific episodes in 1999 and 2002 have been analysed with the aim of identifying possible new sources of Ambrosia pollen arriving at three sites in Poland. Method: The combination of Ambrosia pollen measurements (daily average and bi-hourly concentrations) and air mass trajectory calculations were used to investigate two Ambrosia pollen episodes recorded at Rzeszow, Krakow and Poznan on the 4th and 5th September 1999 and 3rd September 2002. Ambrosia pollen counts were recorded by volumetric spore traps of the Hirst design. Trajectories were calculated using the transport model within the Lagrangian air pollution model, ACDEP (Atmospheric Chemistry and Deposition). Results: The collective results of pollen measurements and back-trajectory analysis indicate plumes of Ambrosia pollen travelling up through Poland from the southeast during the investigated episodes. In 1999, the plume was first recorded at Rzeszow in Southeastern Poland during the morning of the 4th September. Its route can be followed as it passed Krakow during the afternoon of the 4th, and later on the 4th and 5th September at Poznan. Similarly, back-trajectories calculated during the morning and afternoon from Krakow and Rzeszow on the 3rd September 2002 indicates that the air masses arrived at these sites from the East or Southeast. Conclusion: This study shows the progress of Ambrosia plumes into Poland from the southeast. Ambrosia pollen release occurs mainly during the day and so a midday peak in Ambrosia pollen concentrations may indicate a local source. However, if the plume of Ambrosia pollen tracked along its northwesterly path over Poland during investigated episodes did not originate from inside Poland, then it is likely that it came from the Ukraine. This identifies a possible new source of ragweed pollen for Poland. Trajectory analysis can only show the path along which an air mass travels, not the specific source area. Further investigation could therefore include source based transport models such as 3D Eulerian atmospheric transport models.