Overview
The dataset contains in-situ measurements of daily plant pollen concentration for the pollination season of 2023. The data were collected with the Volumetric Pollen and Particle Sampler (Lanzoni VPPS 2010, Italy). The instrument is installed at the roof platform (20 m above ground) of the Warsaw Observatory Station of the Institute of Geophysics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw (instrument coordinates: 52°12'39.6" N, 20°58'57.4" E, 132 m a.s.l).
Taxonomic Groups
The dataset includes daily pollen concentrations [number of grains/m3] of 20 taxonomic groups of plant pollen:
- Corylus
- Alnus
- Taxus
- Populus
- Ulmus
- Salix
- Carpinus
- Betula
- Acer
- Fraxinus
- Quercus
- Pinaceae
- Fagus
- Poaceae
- Rumex
- Plantago
- Urtica
- Chenopodiaceae
- Ambrosia
- Artemisia
There is an extra group that refers to unidentified grains that are however likely from the aforementioned 20 taxonomic groups; this group is referred to as:
File information
The data is stored in the file 2023_pollen_concentration_in_Warsaw.txt, which contains daily pollen concentrations for each identified type from 21.02.2023 to 13.11.2023.
File Structure
1) Header:
- Line 1-3: metadata, each starting with a hashtag (#), describing the file content and measurement location.
- Line 4: blank line
2) Dataset:
- The data includes daily concentrations of pollen grains per 1 m³.
- Line 5: names of taxonomic groups of pollen
- Lines 6-271: daily concentrations per taxonomic group
- Column 1: date in the format [DD-MM-YYYY], starting from 21.02.2023.
- Columns 2-22: pollen types in the following order: CORYLUS, ALNUS, POPULUS, ULMUS, SALIX, CARPINUS, ACER, FAGUS, BETULA, FRAXINUS, TAXUS, OTHERS, QUERCUS, PINACEAE, POACEAE, RUMEX, PLANTAGO, URTICA, CHENOPODIACEAE, AMBROSIA, and ARTEMISIA.
- Column 23: blank column
- Column 24: DAILY SUM that contains total daily pollen count [number of grains/m3]
3) General Information:
- Decimal separator: dot (.)
- Column separator: tab (\t)
- Header denoted with: hashtag (#)
- Missing data represented as zero (0)
Data Acquisition Methodology
The Volumetric Pollen and Particle Sampler (Lanzoni VPPS 2010, Italy) operates at 10 liters per minute, collecting airborne particles over 24-hour hours. Every 7 days, the collected tape is segmented into daily samples, mounted on microscope slides, and stained for analysis. Pollen grains are counted and classified visually along four horizontal lines per segment. Pollen concentration in 1 m³ of air is determined using a conversion factor specific to each microscope applied to the count of each detected pollen type.
ATTENTION:
We offer a free access to this dataset. The user is however encouraged to share the information on the data use with the Remote Sensing Laboratory by sending an e-mail to rslab@fuw.edu.pl.
In the case this dataset is used for a scientific communication (publication, conference contribution, thesis) we would like to kindly ask for considering to acknowledge data provision by adding the following statement in Acknowledgments: "We acknowledge the data originators Z. Rykowska, A.Tomczak, and I.S. Stachlewska for the quality-assurance, evaluation, and provision of data sets of the Remote Sensing Laboratory at the Faculty of Physics of the University of Warsaw, Poland."
Zuzanna Rykowska and Iwona Stachlewska acknowledge that the pollen type identification was done within the European Commission Horizon 2020 program (RI-URBANS G.A. no. 101036245).
Artur Tomczak and Iwona Stachlewska acknowledge that the review of the published dataset was done within the National Science Centre, Poland (NCN) funding (Preludium-BIS UMO-2020/39/O/ST10/03586).
