Olea europaea pollen in the atmosphere of Malaga (S Spain) and its relationship with meteorological parameters

The atmosphere of Malaga was sampled from 1992 to 1995 for the pollen of Olea europaea L., one of the most common airborne allergens in the Mediterranean area. A Burkard seven-day-recording trap showed that the pollen of this species is principally detected during spring with the highest concentrations occurring in May. During the main pollination period, the 24 hour intradiurnal variation pattern showed a high degree of homogeneity with no noteworthy peaks. The correlations between the pollen concentrations recorded and the different meteorological parameters show that temperature, sunshine hours and wind direction are those most closely correlated with variations in the daily pollen count.