TOPIC: Automatic and real-time - the ongoing (r)evolution in aerobiological monitoring
Bernard Clot leads the Biometeorology Group at MeteoSwiss, taking care of the phenology and pollen monitoring networks in Switzerland. Over the past decade, he has played a key role in getting real-time pollen measurements off the ground in Europe, with the automation of the Swiss pollen monitoring network and the initiation of the EUMETNET AutoPollen Programme. Both cover the entire information chain, from the measurements through to the diverse range of products, developed in close collaboration with a number of partners and stakeholders.
Bernard Clot was a founding member of both the International Ragweed Society and the European Aerobiology Society. He served as President of the International Association for Aerobiology, of which he has been an executive committee member since 2002. To recognise his contribution to field, he was presented with the award of Honorary Member of the Swiss Society of Allergology and Immunology, one of the main end-user groups of pollen information in Switzerland.
ABSTRACT:
In less than a decade, what once seemed a distant goal has become a reality. In situ pollen and fungal spore data can now be obtained automatically in real time and at high temporal resolution. Technological advances are making it possible to gain a much more detailed understanding of the parameters that control aerobiological phenomena, and thus to improve forecasts.
Further developments may also make it possible to monitor other large aerosols, such as microplastics. In Europe, the users’ community is actively developing validation and standardisation methods, as well as a common infrastructure that will provide easier access to these technologies and to the data produced. With these new developments, aerobiology – the study of bioaerosols – is entering a new dimension, with cutting-edge tools to serve fields as varied as health, agriculture and research.