Airborne pollen is mainly produced and disseminated during the process of plant flowering, controlled by plant phenology and climatic conditions. As an important bioindicator of plant behavior, airborne pollen can supply information about reproductive phenology, climate and atmospheric circulations. From 2011 to 2013, airborne pollen samples were collected using a volumetric Burkard pollen trap at the Qomolangma Station for Atmospheric and Environmental Observation and Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (QOMS, 28.21°N, 86.56°E; 4276 m a.s.l.), on the northern slope of the Himalayas. The sampler is a volumetric air-suction device capable of continuously gathering pollen and spore particles. Air is drawn in at a speed of 10 l/min, and airborne particles are deposited on a sticky tape mounted on a drum that makes one complete rotation per week. The tape is changed weekly after a complete rotation. Then, the tape is removed and cut into seven pieces, with each piece representing one day of sampling. The pieces are mounted on slides using glycerin and safranin. Identification and counting of pollen grains were performed under an Olympus BX41 microscope at 400× magniﬁcation; all pollen grains on each slide were counted . Pollen concentration was expressed as the daily pollen grains per cubic meter of air using a constant air intake speed of 10 l/min. The pollen concentration and percentage of each pollen taxon in each year were calculated. The pollen sampling and lab process were followed the standard methods to ensure the authenticity and reliability of the data. The pollen data can provides insights into vegetation response to climate change and has significance for interpreting fossil pollen records.

File naming and required software

The pollen data of QOMS is stored in .excel format, can be opened and analysed in Microsoft EXCEL software.

Data Citations Data citation guideline What's data citation?

Cite as:

Lü, X. (2020). Airborne pollen data at the Qomolangma Station (2011-2013). A Big Earth Data Platform for Three Poles, DOI: 10.11888/Meteoro.tpdc.270705. CSTR: 18406.11.Meteoro.tpdc.270705. (Download the reference： RIS | Bibtex )

Related Literatures:

1. Lü, X.M., Paudayal, K.N., Uhl, D., Zhu, L.P., Yao, T.D., Mosbrugger, V. (2020). Phenology and climatic regime inferred from airborne pollen on the northern slope of the Qomolangma (Everest) region. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, in review.( View Details | Bibtex)

Using this data, the data citation is required to be referenced and the related literatures are suggested to be cited.

Support Program

the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (No:2019QZKK0202)

National Natural Science Foundation of China (41671214) (No:41671214)

the project “PaDeMoS” (Pasture Development Monitoring System) within the BMBF program CAME (Central Asian Monsoon dynamics and Ecosystems).

Climate transitions and events in lake sediments (No:XDA20070101)

National Natural Science Foundation of China (41171162) (No:41171162)

Copyright & License

To respect the intellectual property rights, protect the rights of data authors, expand services of the data center, and evaluate the application potential of data, data users should clearly indicate the source of the data and the author of the data in the research results generated by using the data (including published papers, articles, data products, and unpublished research reports, data products and other results). For re-posting (second or multiple releases) data, the author must also indicate the source of the original data.

License： This work is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)