Air Quality and Pollen: Interactions, Exposure and Risk Assessment
A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality and Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 150
Special Issue Editors
Interests: aerosols; lidar; remote sensing; pollen measurements; aerosol/cloud interactions
Interests: airborne pollen and fungal spores; machine learning; convolutional neural networks; phenology; climate change; allergenicity
Interests: biological air quality; aerobiology; air pollution; biometeorology; climate change; numerical modelling; model development; environmental health; pollen; urban planning; allergenicity; phenology
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Air quality and bioaerosols such as airborne pollen and fungal spores represent two major and interconnected components of environmental exposure and public health risk. While air pollution remains a leading environmental health risk worldwide, exposure to allergenic pollen is changing (pollen season intensity and duration) due to urbanization and climate change. Interactions between biological particles and anthropogenic pollutants can modify pollen allergenicity, influence particle transport and exacerbate respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. At the same time, changing meteorological conditions alter pollen phenology, atmospheric dispersion and exposure patterns, creating complex multi-factorial risks that challenge traditional air quality assessment frameworks.
This Special Issue aims to provide an interdisciplinary platform to advance understanding of the interactions between urban air pollutants and airborne pollen, with particular emphasis on exposure dynamics, health risk assessment and predictive capabilities. Contributions addressing aerobiology, biological air quality, phenology, biometeorology, aerosol–pollen interactions and climate-driven shifts in pollen seasons are especially welcome. We encourage studies integrating field measurements, long-term monitoring, lidar and remote sensing applications, laboratory investigations of allergenicity and modelling approaches for transport, transformation and risk forecasting in urban and peri-urban environments.
Submissions may address observational, experimental and modelling studies that clarify the mechanisms linking air pollutants and airborne pollen across spatial and temporal scales. By bringing together advances from atmospheric science, aerobiology, environmental health and urban studies, this Special Issue seeks to address persistent knowledge gaps in how biological and chemical components of air interact under changing environmental conditions. Particular attention is given to strengthening the link between scientific insight and practical applications, including improved exposure assessment, early-warning systems and risk mitigation strategies. Enhancing coordination between monitoring networks, modelling frameworks and health-oriented research is essential for developing adaptive responses to the evolving challenges posed by air pollution, pollen and climate variability in urban environments.
Dr. Elina Giannakaki
Dr. Monica Gonzalez-Alonso
Dr. Sofia Papadogiannaki
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- aerobiology
- biological air quality
- air pollution
- remote sensing
- allergenicity
- climate change impacts
- numerical modelling
- urban air quality
- public and human health
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