Effect of short-term regional traffic restriction on urban submicron particulate pollution

During the 2013 and 2015 Lanzhou International Marathon Events (LIME1 and LIME2), the local government made a significant effort to improve traffic conditions and air quality by implementing traffic restriction measures. To fill the gap in information on the effect of short-period (several hours) traffic control on urban air quality, submicron particle size distributions and meteorological data were measured simultaneously during June 2013 and June 2015 in urban Lanzhou. The number and surface area concentrations of particles in the 100–200 nm range declined by 67.2% and 65.0% for LIME1 due to traffic control, while they decreased by 39.2% and 37.1% for LIME2. The impact of traffic restriction on air pollution near the sampling site lagged behind the traffic control period for LIME2. In addition, the effect of traffic restriction on air pollution near the sampling site was dependent on the distance between the relative orientation of the sampling site and traffic-restricted zones, as well as meteorological conditions such as wind direction. The influence of traffic restrictions on the particle concentrations differed for different particle sizes. The size range most affected by traffic restriction was 60–200 and 60–300 nm for number and surface area concentrations in the urban environment, respectively, while for the particle volume concentration it was the 100–600 nm range. This study will provide a basis for implementation of future urban traffic-induced particulate pollution control measures.