Airborne pollen from the yugoslavian coast to the po valley (italy)

Abstract Airborne pollen concentration was measured at a site in the eastern Po Valley, Italy (44° 39′ N; 11° 37′ E) during May 1978, by using a Hirst-Trap and a Rotorod sampler lifted with a tethered balloon. The samplings were made at different levels from the ground to about 800 m a.s.l., under meteorological conditions favourable to atmospheric transport from the Yugoslavian coast over the northern Adriatic Sea. The concentration measurements refer to the following pollen types: Quercus farnetto, Fagus spp., Ostrya carpinifolia. These arboreal species were chosen because their geographic distribution is well known and their pollen grains are produced in large quantities and are easily indentifiable. From the results presented here, it appears that under suitable wind conditions pollen grains released in the Mediterranean-Illiric region travel about 200 to 300 km and reach the Italian coast in considerable amounts (concentration around 10 particles per cubic meter at a height of several hundred meters)...