Abstract

The aim of the present chapter was to describe the Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthaceae pollen dynamics in the atmosphere of two cities of the Middle-West of Spain (Salamanca and Valladolid). Samples were collected by the volumetric method with the aid of two Burkard spore-traps located in the centre of both urban cities during years 2005 and 2006. This pollen type was mainly detected in the atmosphere between late Spring and late Summer, with a Main Pollen Season registered between late May and early October and maximum concentrations detected in August. The intra-diurnal pattern, calculated by means of three different methods, was very similar for both towns reaching a higher hourly concentration percentage in the second half of the day. The correlations obtained between daily pollen counts and different meteorological parameters showed that the airborne presence of this pollen type is positively associated with temperature and negatively with rainfall during MPS. According to known threshold (10-15 pollen/m3), Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthaceae pollen concentrations exceeded this threshold during 1 day in 2005 and during 12 days in 2006.