Application of source-receptor models to determine source areas of biological components (pollen and butterflies)

• M. Alarcón ^[1] ; A. Àvila ^[2] ; J. Belmonte ^[2] ; C. Stefanescu ^[3] ; R. Izquierdo ^[2]
  1. [1] Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

     Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

     Barcelona, España

     
  2. [2] Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

     Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

     Barcelona, España

     
  3. [3] Museu de Granollers de Ciències Naturals

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• Localización: Tethys : revista meteorología y climatología mediterránea, ISSN 1139-3394, Nº. 7, 2010, págs. 3-10
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The source-receptor models allow the establishment of relationships between a receptor point(sampling point) and the probable source areas (regions of emission) through the association ofconcentration values at the receptor point with the corresponding atmospheric back-trajectories,and, together with other techniques, to interpret transport phenomena on a synoptic scale. Thesemodels are generally used in air pollution studies to determine the areas of origin of chemicalcompounds measured at a sampling point, and thus be able to target actions to reduce pollutants.However, until now, few studies have applied these types of models to describe the source areasof biological organisms. In Catalonia there are very complete records of pollen (data from theXarxa Aerobiol`ogica de Catalunya, Aerobiology Network of Catalonia) and butterflies (datafrom the Catalan Butterfly Monitoring Scheme), a biological material that is also liable to betransported long distances and whose areas of origin could be interesting to know. This workpresents the results of the use of the Seibert et al. model applied to the study of the source regionsof: (1) certain pollen of an allergic nature, observed in Catalonia and the Canary Islands,and (2) the migratory butterfly Vanessa cardui, observed in Catalonia. Based on the resultsobtained we can corroborate the suitability of these models to determine the area of origin ofseveral species, both chemical and biological, therefore expanding the possibilities of applyingthe original model to the wider field of Aerobiology.