Dynamic ecological observations from satellites inform aerobiology of allergenic grass pollen

Devadas, R; Huete, AR; Vicendese, D; Erbas, B; Beggs, PJ; Medek, D; Haberle, SG; Newnham, RM; Johnston, FH; Jaggard, AK; Campbell, B; Burton, PK; Katelaris, CH; Newbigin, E; Thibaudon, M; Davies, JM

Dynamic ecological observations from satellites inform aerobiology of allergenic grass pollen

Vicendese, D Erbas, B Beggs, PJ Medek, D Haberle, SG Newnham, RM Johnston, FH Jaggard, AK Campbell, B Burton, PK Katelaris, CH Newbigin, E Thibaudon, M Davies, JM

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Science of the Total Environment, 2018, 633 pp. 441 - 451
Issue Date:: 2018-08-15

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Devadas, R https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2085-6442	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Huete, AR https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2809-2376	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Vicendese, D	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Erbas, B	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Beggs, PJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Medek, D	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Haberle, SG	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Newnham, RM	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Johnston, FH	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Jaggard, AK	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Campbell, B	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Burton, PK	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Katelaris, CH	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Newbigin, E	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Thibaudon, M	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Davies, JM	en_US
dc.date.available	2018-03-17	en_US
dc.date.issued	2018-08-15	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Science of the Total Environment, 2018, 633 pp. 441 - 451	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0048-9697	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/128669
dc.description.abstract	© 2018 Allergic diseases, including respiratory conditions of allergic rhinitis (hay fever) and asthma, affect up to 500 million people worldwide. Grass pollen are one major source of aeroallergens globally. Pollen forecast methods are generally site-based and rely on empirical meteorological relationships and/or the use of labour-intensive pollen collection traps that are restricted to sparse sampling locations. The spatial and temporal dynamics of the grass pollen sources themselves, however, have received less attention. Here we utilised a consistent set of MODIS satellite measures of grass cover and seasonal greenness (EVI) over five contrasting urban environments, located in Northern (France) and Southern Hemispheres (Australia), to evaluate their utility for predicting airborne grass pollen concentrations. Strongly seasonal and pronounced pollinating periods, synchronous with satellite measures of grass cover greenness, were found at the higher latitude temperate sites in France (46–50° N. Lat.), with peak pollen activity lagging peak greenness, on average by 2–3 weeks. In contrast, the Australian sites (34–38° S. Lat.) displayed pollinating periods that were less synchronous with satellite greenness measures as peak pollen concentrations lagged peak greenness by as much as 4 to 7 weeks. The Australian sites exhibited much higher spatial and inter-annual variations compared to the French sites and at the Sydney site, broader and multiple peaks in both pollen concentrations and greenness data coincided with flowering of more diverse grasses including subtropical species. Utilising generalised additive models (GAMs) we found the satellite greenness data of grass cover areas explained 80–90% of airborne grass pollen concentrations across the three French sites (p < 0.001) and accounted for 34 to 76% of grass pollen variations over the two sites in Australia (p < 0.05). Our results demonstrate the potential of satellite sensing to augment forecast models of grass pollen aerobiology as a tool to reduce the health and socioeconomic burden of pollen-sensitive allergic diseases.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Science of the Total Environment	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.191	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Environmental Sciences	en_US
dc.title	Dynamic ecological observations from satellites inform aerobiology of allergenic grass pollen	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	633	en_US
utslib.for	0602 Ecology	en_US
utslib.for	1117 Public Health and Health Services	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CAMGIS - Centre for Advanced Modelling and Geospatial lnformation Systems
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	633	en_US

Abstract:

© 2018 Allergic diseases, including respiratory conditions of allergic rhinitis (hay fever) and asthma, affect up to 500 million people worldwide. Grass pollen are one major source of aeroallergens globally. Pollen forecast methods are generally site-based and rely on empirical meteorological relationships and/or the use of labour-intensive pollen collection traps that are restricted to sparse sampling locations. The spatial and temporal dynamics of the grass pollen sources themselves, however, have received less attention. Here we utilised a consistent set of MODIS satellite measures of grass cover and seasonal greenness (EVI) over five contrasting urban environments, located in Northern (France) and Southern Hemispheres (Australia), to evaluate their utility for predicting airborne grass pollen concentrations. Strongly seasonal and pronounced pollinating periods, synchronous with satellite measures of grass cover greenness, were found at the higher latitude temperate sites in France (46–50° N. Lat.), with peak pollen activity lagging peak greenness, on average by 2–3 weeks. In contrast, the Australian sites (34–38° S. Lat.) displayed pollinating periods that were less synchronous with satellite greenness measures as peak pollen concentrations lagged peak greenness by as much as 4 to 7 weeks. The Australian sites exhibited much higher spatial and inter-annual variations compared to the French sites and at the Sydney site, broader and multiple peaks in both pollen concentrations and greenness data coincided with flowering of more diverse grasses including subtropical species. Utilising generalised additive models (GAMs) we found the satellite greenness data of grass cover areas explained 80–90% of airborne grass pollen concentrations across the three French sites (p < 0.001) and accounted for 34 to 76% of grass pollen variations over the two sites in Australia (p < 0.05). Our results demonstrate the potential of satellite sensing to augment forecast models of grass pollen aerobiology as a tool to reduce the health and socioeconomic burden of pollen-sensitive allergic diseases.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/128669