Plaza Maria P, Charalampopoulos Athanasios, Leier-Wirtz Vivien, Ørby Pia Viuf, Kloster Mathilde, Christiansen Michael Dines, Traidl-Hoffmann Claudia, Damialis Athanasios, Gosewinkel Ulrich
Institute for Environmental Medicine and Integrative Health, Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg and University Hospital Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany.
Institute of Environmental Medicine, Helmholtz Munich - German Research Center for Environmental Health, Augsburg, Germany.
Heliyon. 2024 Oct 12;10(20):e38924. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e38924. eCollection 2024 Oct 30.
Bioaerosols, such as pollen and fungal spores, are routinely monitored for agricultural, medical or urban greening practices, but sampling methodology is largely relying on techniques more than half a century old. Moreover, biomonitoring campaigns often take place in urban environments, although sources can be located outside cities' borders with ampler vegetation. Therefore, the question arises whether we are accurately picturing the biodiversity and abundance of regional bioaerosols and whether those locally detected might derive from long-distance transport, horizontally or vertically. To answer the above, we used novel, mobile monitoring devices, and aerial measurement units, like aircrafts, so as to explore bioaerosol concentrations at a variety of altitudes. An ultralight aircraft was equipped with a sampling device for bioaerosols. The device consisted of duplicate isokinetic impactors that match the physical functioning and the microscopic quantification method of the widely used ground-based Hirst-type impactors. Isokinetic airflow was realized by adjusting the air flux at the impactors' inlet to the airspeed of the aircraft. Three campaigns were made, where the comparability, efficiency and accuracy of different sampling devices were determined, namely of the abovementioned impactor, and of the mobile conventional Hirst-type pollen sampler. The campaigns involved measurements from ground level (0 m altitude) up to 900 m (above ground level (agl)) via flights. Our results showed that aircraft-based airborne pollen concentration measurements were consistently higher than those of all other devices, regardless of the altitude and sampling time. It is noteworthy that the pollen concentration exceeded 500 pollen grains/m at >900 m of altitude, this concentration being 1.77 times higher than that simultaneously measured at ground level. Likewise, the diversity of pollen was also higher at higher altitude. Our results indicate the usability and superiority of small aircraft and high-flow impactors for research, achieving higher biodiversity and abundance over a shorter sampling interval compared to conventional volumetric techniques. Higher pollen amounts at higher altitudes also point at the necessity to monitor bioaerosols across the vertical dimension, especially in densely populated areas and high-traffic air space.
生物气溶胶，如花粉和真菌孢子，在农业、医学或城市绿化实践中会进行常规监测，但采样方法很大程度上仍依赖于半个多世纪前的技术。此外，生物监测活动通常在城市环境中进行，尽管其来源可能位于城市边界之外植被更丰富的地方。因此，问题就出现了，我们是否准确描绘了区域生物气溶胶的生物多样性和丰度，以及那些在当地检测到的生物气溶胶是否可能来自水平或垂直方向的远距离传输。为了回答上述问题，我们使用了新型移动监测设备和空中测量单元，如飞机，以探索不同高度的生物气溶胶浓度。一架超轻型飞机配备了生物气溶胶采样装置。该装置由两个等速冲击器组成，其物理功能和微观定量方法与广泛使用的地面赫斯特型冲击器相匹配。通过将冲击器入口处的空气流量调整到飞机的空速来实现等速气流。进行了三次活动，确定了不同采样装置的可比性、效率和准确性，即上述冲击器以及移动传统赫斯特型花粉采样器的可比性、效率和准确性。这些活动包括通过飞行从地面（海拔0米）到900米（高于地面（agl））进行测量。我们的结果表明，无论海拔高度和采样时间如何，基于飞机的空中花粉浓度测量结果始终高于所有其他设备。值得注意的是，在海拔>900米处花粉浓度超过500粒花粉/立方米，该浓度比同时在地面测量的浓度高1.77倍。同样，较高海拔处花粉的多样性也更高。我们的结果表明，小型飞机和高流量冲击器在研究中的可用性和优越性，与传统体积技术相比，在更短的采样间隔内实现了更高的生物多样性和丰度。较高海拔处较高的花粉量也表明有必要在垂直维度上监测生物气溶胶，特别是在人口密集地区和高流量空域。
