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Synoptic and meteorological characterisation of olive pollen transport in Córdoba province (south-western Spain)

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Abstract

The main goal of the present study was to provide a detailed analysis of olive pollen transport dynamics in the province of Córdoba (south-western Spain) by applying back-trajectory analysis. Pollen data from 2006 and 2007 were analysed at four monitoring sites: Córdoba city in the centre of the province, Baena and Priego de Córdoba located in the south, and El Cabril reserve (Hornachuelos Natural Park) in the north. Particular attention was paid to nine episodes of high pollen counts. Synoptic surface maps were used, and kinematic back-trajectories (3D) were computed using the hybrid single particle Lagrangian integrated trajectory model (HYSPLIT) at 500 m above ground level, run with a time-step of 6 h over a period of 36 h. Findings were analysed in conjunction with daily and bi-hourly airborne pollen data, field phenological data and hourly surface meteorological data recorded at nearby stations: temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, wind direction and wind speed. The results identified two pollen source areas over the Córdoba province, the largest one located in the south, affecting Baena, Priego de Córdoba and Córdoba city, and one smaller located in the west, which determines mainly the pollen cycle over the north of the province, El Cabril. In addition, two air mass circulations were found, one coming from the south and crossing the main olive pollen sources very close to the surface and being frequently associated with higher pollen counts, and the other coming from the west and, in the episodes investigated, influencing mainly the north of the province.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the European Social Fund for co-financing with the Spanish Science Ministry. Dr. García Mozo was supported by a “Ramón y Cajal” contract, and the Andalusia Regional Government funded the project entitled “Modelización y analisis de la influencia de la variación genética en la fenología reproductiva de especies vegetales” (PO6-RNM-02195). The authors also thank the Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET) and the Andalusian Government Agroclimatic Information Network (RIA) for providing weather data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Atmospheric Sounding Station “El Arenosillo”, Atmospheric Research and Instrumentation Branch, National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA), Carretera Huelva-Matalascañas km 31.3, 21130, Mazagón-Huelva, Spain

    Miguel A. Hernández-Ceballos, José Antonio Adame & Benito A. De la Morena

  2. Departamento de Botánica, Ecología y Fisiología Vegetal, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071, Córdoba, Spain

    Hermínia García-Mozo, Eugenio Domínguez-Vilches & Carmen Galán

  3. Department of Applied Physics, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain

    Miguel A. Hernández-Ceballos & Juan Pedro Bolívar

Authors
  1. Miguel A. Hernández-Ceballos
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  2. Hermínia García-Mozo
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  3. José Antonio Adame
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  4. Eugenio Domínguez-Vilches
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  5. Benito A. De la Morena
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  6. Juan Pedro Bolívar
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  7. Carmen Galán
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Correspondence to Miguel A. Hernández-Ceballos.

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Hernández-Ceballos, M.A., García-Mozo, H., Adame, J.A. et al. Synoptic and meteorological characterisation of olive pollen transport in Córdoba province (south-western Spain). Int J Biometeorol 55, 17–34 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-010-0306-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-010-0306-4

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