Modelling atmospheric concentrations of grass pollen using meteorological variables in Melbourne, Australia

Abstract

This study aims to develop models that may be used to describe the relationship between meteorological variables and ambient concentrations of pollen. We used daily ambient concentrations of grass pollen during the pollen season (October to December) of 2004 in Melbourne, Australia. During this period, daily levels of meteorological data including average relative humidity, mean temperature, rain fall, wind speed, and wind direction were entered as predictors in the models. A generalized additive model (GAM) was used to assess the relationship between daily levels of meteorological variables and ambient concentrations of grass pollen. The relationship between average temperature, rain fall, ..