Implementation of a national pollen alert system for better management of allergic respiratory health

Project Member(s): Huete, A.

Funding or Partner Organisation: National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC Partnership Projects)

Start year: 2016

Summary: The Australian Pollen Allergen Partnership (AusPollen) will establish Australia’s first national pollen monitoring network. AusPollen will bridge current research and policy gaps and link key stakeholders to address crucial issues for preventive health care among those at risk by: 1. Informing patients in the community with hay fever and asthma of their local grass pollen levels using a standardized pollen count network and smart phone App. 2. Evaluating components required to build an innovative validated grass pollen forecast system that integrates local grass pollen counts, satellite greenness indices (grass cover and phenology), wind dispersion and weather data. 3. Providing public stakeholder groups with a range of education tools for managing respiratory health in at risk populations and data for future health service planning and policy development. 4. Evaluating the short term impact of the intervention of disseminating local pollen information.

Publications:

Watson, CJ, Restrepo-Coupe, N & Huete, AR 2019, 'Multi-Scale Phenology of Temperate Grasslands: Improving Monitoring and Management With Near-Surface Phenocams', Frontiers in Environmental Science, vol. 7, no. FEB.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Keywords: Pollen, allergens, asthma, forecast, satellite, phenology, grass cover

FOR Codes: Landscape Ecology, Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Health Information Systems (incl. Surveillance), Environmental Health, Urban and Industrial Air Quality, Health surveillance, Air quality, Public health (excl. specific population health) not elsewhere classified

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.