Since the start of this year, a suite of instruments has been hard at work detecting a broad spectrum of aerosols at the MeteoSwiss weather station in Payerne, in Vaud Canton.
Since the start of this year, a suite of instruments has been hard at work detecting a broad spectrum of aerosols at the MeteoSwiss weather station in Payerne, in Vaud Canton. This pioneering project – a joint initiative between EPFL, the Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology Climatology and European partners – aims to improve pollen forecasting and to gain further insights into the critical impact that bioaerosols, smoke and dust have on cloud formation and climate.
Hay-fever sufferers will be acutely familiar with the Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology Climatology (MeteoSwiss) pollen maps and their shades of red and yellow. These forecasts play a vital role in guiding public-health measures, especially after Switzerland experienced record-high pollen counts this spring. In an effort to develop more detailed and accurate forecasting capabilities, various new instruments were installed at the Payerne upper air station at the start of this year. This marks the first time such instruments have been deployed simultaneously.
The research is being carried out jointly by MeteoSwiss, EPFL, the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), and the Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH) and has received funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation, and the prestigious European Research Council through the EU’s Pyrogenic TRansformations Affecting Climate and Health (PyroTRACH) program. In addition to detecting a wider range of pollen types than in existing studies – thanks in part to the scientists’ pioneering work on vertical-laser remote sensing systems – this project is also investigating other causes of allergies and oxidative stress such as fungal spores, bacteria, dust and wildfire smoke, as well as methods to improve pollen forecasts and cloud formation.
Read more at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Image: The measurements instruments of postdoc Kunfeng Gao. (© Armand Goy / 2023 EPFL)
