Prediction of wind-carried Gramineae and Urticaceae pollen occurrence in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region (Italy)

Abstract

Wind-carried pollen is universal outdoor and indoor components and is recognized as sources of respiratory allergies. Pollen information is important for determining clinical strategies in allergic patients, and several studies aim to forecast the presence of pollen in the atmosphere in order to reduce the risk of exposure for allergic patients. Forecasting models described in the literature are based on meteorological parameters requiring long historical series of coupled meteorological and pollen monitoring data as well as needing local calibration to produce reliable results. For this study, three different forecasting methods have been developed: two of them have shown to be suitable for foreseeing onset, abundance and duration of pollen presence in the atmosphere for the Gramineae and the Urticaceae families of allergenic plants being monitored in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region (north-eastern Italy).