Experimental investigation of micrometeorological influences on birch pollen emission

Diseases due to aeroallergens increased over the last decades and affect more and more people. The overall prevalence of seasonal allergic rhinitis in Europe is about 15 precent and increasing. Adequate protective and pre-emptive measures require both the reliable assessment of production and release of various pollen species, and the forecasting of their atmospheric dispersion. A new generation of pollen forecast models, which may be either based on statistical knowledge or full physical transport and dispersion modeling, can provide pollen forecasts with full spatial coverage (Ambelas Skjøth et al., 2006; Helbig et al., 2004; Schueler and Schl¨unzen, 2006; Sofiev et al., 2006a,b).