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Analysis of atmospheric dispersion of olive pollen in southern Spain using SILAM and HYSPLIT models

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Abstract

SILAM atmospheric dispersion model and the HYSPLIT trajectory model were used to detect the source areas and calculate transport dynamics for airborne olive pollen observed in the city of Córdoba, southwest of Iberian Peninsula. The ECMWF weather data with 3-h time interval and spatial resolution of 25 × 25 km2 and 75 hybrid vertical levels were used as meteorological inputs in both models to produce a coherent set of results in order to compare these two different approaches. Seven episodes recorded before and after the local flowering season in 2006 were analyzed using both models. The results provided an indication of the origins of olive pollen recorded in the city of Córdoba, revealing the influence of three main source areas at specific periods. One area was located nearby, to the southwest of the city (early May), another in the south of the province (mid-May) and the third to the east (late May/early June). The SILAM model yielded more detailed and quantitative results when identifying olive pollen sources and charting transport dynamics. The results from the HYSPLIT trajectory approach and SILAM footprints were qualitatively similar. However, a weak point of back trajectories was their lower sensitivity to details of the transport, as well as the necessity of subjective analysis of the trajectory plots, which were subject for possible misinterpretations. Information on both pollen source locations and local tree flowering phenology was required in order to ensure consistent analysis of the influence of olive sources for both models. Further than this, due to the fact that both models are widely used in other research areas, the results of this work could have a widespread range of application, such as to simulate the transport of radionuclides, e.g., in emergency preparedness exercises.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the European Social Fund and the Spanish Science Ministry for joint financing. Dr. García Mozo was supported by a “Ramón y Cajal” contract, and the Andalusia Regional Government funded the project entitled “Analisis de la Dinamica del Polen Atmosferico en Andalucia” (RNM-5958). The authors also thank the Science and Innovation Ministry for funding the project entitled “Impacto del Cambio Climatico en la Fenologia de especies vegetales del Centro y Sur de la Peninsula Iberica” (FENOCLIM) CGL2011-24146. Support from the EU FP7-HIALINE project is gratefully acknowledged. The authors gratefully acknowledge the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) for the provision of the HYSPLIT transport model and READY Web site (http://ready.arl.noaa.gov) used in this publication.

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  1. M. A. Hernandez-Ceballos

    Present address: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Transuranium Elements, Ispra, Italy

Authors and Affiliations

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

    M. A. Hernandez-Ceballos & J. P. Bolivar

  2. Air Quality Research Department, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland

    J. Soares & M. Sofiev

  3. Department of Botany, Ecology and Plant Physiology, Agrifood Campus of International Excellence (CeiA3), University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain

    H. García-Mozo & C. Galán

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  1. M. A. Hernandez-Ceballos
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Correspondence to M. A. Hernandez-Ceballos.

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Hernandez-Ceballos, M.A., Soares, J., García-Mozo, H. et al. Analysis of atmospheric dispersion of olive pollen in southern Spain using SILAM and HYSPLIT models. Aerobiologia 30, 239–255 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10453-013-9324-0

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