Relationship between the Péczely's large‐scale weather types and airborne pollen grain concentrations for Szeged, Hungary

Abstract

This paper discusses a subjectively defined system of air mass types, the 13 Péczely's large‐scale weather situations over the Carpathian Basin in relation to the detected airborne pollen grain concentrations. Based on the ECMWF (European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts) sea‐level pressure data set, daily sea‐level pressure fields analyzed at 00:00 UTC were prepared for each Péczely's weather types in order to relate the sea‐level pressure patterns with the average pollen levels in Szeged. The data basis for this study comprises daily values of 12 meteorological parameters and daily average pollen concentrations for 24 species in a 5‐year period (1997–2001). It was found that Péczely's anticyclonic ridge types 2 and 11 as well as cyclonic types 4 and 7 are favourable for pollen production and dispersal unlike the cyclonic types 3 and 13. Hence, the Péczely's large‐scale weather situations cannot alone be considered as an overall system in predicting pollen concentrations.