Influence of Traffic Volume on Fugitive Road Dust Emissions in Beijing, China

Eighty sites were set up to monitor road dust fall and 80 locations were selected to sample silt loading in April, August. and November 2007 and January 2008 in the Beijing metropolitan area. Fugitive road dust emission strengths were calculated using the AP-42 emission factor model. Silt loading on Beijing urban roads was typically less than 1.0 g/m^2. the PM10 emission strength was typically less than 100 kg/km•day, and road dust fall was typically less than 40 t/km^2•30day. The relationships between traffic volume, silt loading, fugitive road dust emission strength and road dust fall were studied in the Beijing metropolitan area. The results indicate that silt loading and emission factors are negatively correlated with traffic volume, but the PM10 emission rate and road dust-fall are positively correlated with traffic volume.