AIS LIFE 

Action B3: Case Study Italy: Mapping of urban and rural environments through land use and allergic plants data, agroclimatic indices

 

Description and methods employed:

 

The Tuscan case study makes available a series of easy-to-read maps, which people suffering from allergies can use to improve their quality of life, especially in the period of the year defined as “at risk” (i.e. high pollen counts).

 

On the base of climatic characteristics, the Tuscan territory will be divided into areas of study. Each area will have a meteorological station and a aerobiological station. The first will be used to record meteorological data, while the second will capture airborne pollen in the atmosphere that will be used to determine pollen concentrations present in the air.

 

The study will take into consideration the most common tree species in the Tuscan territory that are among the highest provokers of allergy. Families considered will be: Oleaceae (olive), Fagaceae (Oaks, beech and chestnut), Corylaceae (Hazel, hornbeam and white) Betulaceae (alder and birch), Cupressaceae (cypress), Platanaceae (plane tree).

 

The diffusion and distribution of various species in Tuscany will be determined with the study and analysis of land-use, as initiated in the EU initiative Corine Land Cover. Corine Land Cover established a computerised inventory on land cover of the 27 EC member states and other European countries, at an original scale of 1: 100 000, using 44 classes of the 3-class. This database was created through satellite observations and it was used to analyse the use of the soil. The distribution ranges of individual tree species will be shown on a map.

 

The record of meteorological and aerobiological will create a map of pollen concentrations, classified in high, medium, low or absent, for individual tree species in each area of study. For each allergenic species the tendency of concentration trends (increasing, decreasing or stationary) for the week to come will also be provided.

 

The distribution map of different tree species and the corresponding pollen concentration value will be used to obtain a map that provides useful information about the level of risk to patients depending on the geographic area and the species considered. The maps will be drawn up and updated weekly. The maps provide the risk of allergy in all study area considered.

 

The maps are elaborated with the use of a geographic information system (GIS). The maps are available to the user in electronic or paper format and they are disseminate by web sites or in public buildings, such as pharmacy, medical surgeries.