International Collaboration
for Forecasting ragweed Pollen |
| Ah--choo! Ah--choo!
Does ragweed grow in your yard? The plant may be pretty and not bother
you, but its pollen could give your neighbors hay fever. Ragweed (Ambrosia
artemisiifolia) represents a major public health concern in Europe
and North America. Because ragweed pollen is very easily transported
by wind, many aerobiologists measure it regularly, even where the
plants do not grow nearby in high quantities. The important impact
of transported ragweed pollen on human health makes it a very suitable
candidate for a pollen forecasting system. Maybe you already know
the Soybean rust forecast model which Scott Isard and his partners
have developed and are operating daily (http://sbrusa.net/
and http://www.ceal.psu.edu/feature.htm).
Our goal is to forge an international collaboration among aerobiologists to build and operate an Internet-based platform to forecast aerial concentration of ragweed pollen in Europe and North America. Output from the final model will be available for all aerobiologists to use. |
 Ragweed photo: acw.admin.ch |
Specific Objectives We invite you to participate in this international collaboration. Currently the project is not funded and therefore is based on the work of volunteers. The project is being coordinated by Regula Gehrig (MeteoSwiss), Scott Isard and Annalisa Ariatti (Pennsylvania State University). ZedX Inc., a small Information Technology company in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania that worked with Scott Isard on the Soybean rust forecasting system, is contributing the programming, databasing, and operational support for the project. |