Methodology

A proved methodology is used in aerobiology, which was already described in detail. In the following we list the requirements that conform with the European standard.

Pollen traps:

continuous and volumetric (Hirst type, e.g. Burkard, Lanzoni)
flow rate of 10 L/min
sampling height between 15-20 m above ground
location distant from high buildings or other obstacles, trees and other local pollen sources
a description of the surrounding (urban/rural area, valley/hill side, vegetation) should be available

Adhesives:

vaseline and silicon oil are recommended depending on the climatic conditions

Imbedding medium:

most often gelvatol or glycerine jelly are used

Staining:

mostly basic fuchsin or saffranine

Microscope:

compound light microscope magnification 400x resolution (numerical aperture of the objective) not below 0.65

Counting method:

at least 10% of the sample has to be analyzed (this means three longitudinal bands, 12 transverse (vertical) bands or minimal 500 random fields depending on the counting method) a conversion factor has to be applied depending on the microscope and the method used to receive daily averages ad daily concentration (pollen per m3 air)

You find here the most recent version of the minimum recommendation for pollen evaluation: http://www.uco.es/raa/publicaciones/andalucia/cordoba/Galan_pollen_monitoring_14.pdf