The Influence of Wind Speed on the Ambient Concentrations of Pollen from Gramineae, Platanus, and Betula in the Air of London, England

Data from a monitoring station in northcentral London are used to investigate the influence of wind speed on ambient concentrations of pollen from three allergenic taxa over the three years, 1987–1989. The analysis considers three contrasting source types, namely Gramineae which originates mostly from outside the conurbation, Betula which derives partly from outside the city but has some local sources, and Platanus which is almost exclusively local in origin. Significant relationships were found between wind speed and concentrations of Betula and Gramineae, but not of Platanus pollen. One of the main difficulties in examining the influence of wind speed on pollen concentrations is to separate its effects from those of other meteorological variables such as relative humidity, precipitation, and temperature. The relative contributions of near and distant sources cannot be identified in the current data but the influences of wind speed on the ambient concentrations at roof level would likely be different in each case.