Fairbanks spruce pollen hits season high in UAF count

Fairbanks spruce pollen hit a season high Friday at 346 grains per cubic meter, according to readings posted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service.

UAF listed the June 5 count as high and a new season record. The reading came from the Arctic Health Research Building. Birch remained high at 130. Alder was moderate at 40. Chokecherry, poplar and sedge were low. Mold spores were also listed as low, though UAF notes mold counts are analyzed separately and provided for general information.

The work serves two audiences. Allergy sufferers use the counts to understand what is in the air. Researchers use the long Fairbanks record to study how pollen seasons behave over time in Interior Alaska.

Research using the Fairbanks counts has found longer pollen seasons, with Fairbanks seeing longer and more intense seasons in particular, UAF said. Friday's count does not prove a climate trend by itself. It is one reading in one season. But it adds to a local record that UAF says has become useful because it has been kept for decades.

The method is direct. Pollen is collected on a greased rotorod, stained and counted under a microscope, then converted into grains per cubic meter.

For residents, the immediate news is simpler. Spruce and birch are high. The yellow dust in the air is measurable. And UAF's long-running pollen work is giving Fairbanks a clearer record of allergy season as it unfolds.