Road Weather Information Systems Volume 1: Research Report
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SHRP-H-350 Road Weather Information Systems Volume 1: Research Report S. Edward Boselly III G. Stanley Doore The Matrix Management Group 811 1st Ave., Suite 466 Seattle, Washington 98104 Dr. John E. Thornes School of Geography University of Birmingham Birmingham, England B15 2TT Dr. Cyrus Ulberg Donald D. Ernst, P.E. The Washington Transportation Center (TRAC) University of Washington Seattle, Washington 98195 shrp Strategic Highway Research Program National Research Council Washington, DC 1993 SHRP-H-350 ISBN: 0-309-05273-4 Contract H-207 Product No.: 3023 Program Manager: Don M. Harriott Project Manager: L. David Minsk Program Area Secretary: Francine Burgess Copy Editor: Katharyn Bine Brosseau Production Editor: Cara J. Tate September 1993 key words: highways ice detection maintenance meteorology pavement ice detectors road weather information systems snow and ice control weather forecasting Strategic Highway Research Program National Academy of Sciences 2101 Constitution Avenue N.W. Washington, DC 20418 (202) 334-3774 The publication of this report does not necessarily indicate approval or endorsement of the findings, opinions, conclusions, or recommendations either inferred or specifically expressed herein by the National Academy of Sciences, the United States Government, or the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials or its member states. © 1993 National Academy of Sciences 1.5M/NAP/993 Acknowledgments The research described herein was supported by the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP). SHRP is a unit of the National Research Council that was authorized by section 128 of the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987. We wish to thank the state highway maintenance personnel who took the time to complete the detailed questionnaire, and the following states and province of Canada that consented to in-person interviews of snow and ice control staff: •Massachusetts Pennsylvania New Jersey Michigan Minnesota Missouri Colorado Wyoming Washington Alaska British Columbia Wisconsin We wish to give additional thanks to the states that participated in our field test program during the 1990-1991 winter: Massachusetts New Jersey Michigan Minnesota Colorado Missouri Washington We relied on the vendors of road weather information system (RWIS) equipment for assistance in data gathering and formatting for our analysis. Special thanks go to Surface Systems Inc. (SSI), Climatronics, and Vaisala for providing data support. SSI also assisted with a detailed investigation of the use of a hand-held radiometer for pavement temperature comparison measurements. And special thanks must go to Mr. Ingmar Olofsson of SweRoad, a Swedish consulting firm, who served as an invaluable' source of information through the EUCO-COST 309 international research project investigating road weather information systems. Finally, we thank the meteorological equipment vendors and the private and governmental meteorological services providers who took their valuable time to complete questionnaires and to assist the project team. iii Contents Acknowledgments ........................................... iii List of Figures ............................................. ix List of Tables ............................................. xi Abstract .................................................. 1 Executive Summary ........................................... 3 1 Introduction ........................................... 7 Statement of the Problem ................................... 7 Standard Weather Information ................................ 9 Observations ...................................... 9 Forecasts ....................................... 10 Road Weather Information ................................. 10 Observations Forecasts ....................................... 11 Road Thermal Analysis ............................... 12 Communications ................................... 13 Data Transfer from Sensors ...................... 13 Information Transfer between VAMS and Highway Agency . 13 Information Dissemination to the Traveling Public ......... 14 2 Conduct of the Research .................................. 17 The Investigations ...................................... 17 Literature Search ................................... 17 Questionnaires .................................... 18 State Highway Agencies .......................... 18 Meteorological Hardware and Services Vendors ........... 20 Interviews ....................................... 20 State Highway Agencies .......................... 21 Vendors .................................... 21 Field Tests ...................................... 21 Participants .................................. 22 V Types of Tests ................................ 23 Investigation of the Use of Sensors ............................ 27 Uses of Sensors ................................... 28 Pavement Sensor Uses ........................... 28 Meteorological Sensor Uses ....................... 29 Field Testing of Sensors .............................. 30 Representativeness of Pavement Sensor Reports ........... 30 Sensor Placement in the Roadway .................... 33 Recommendations for Sensor Placement in the Roadway ...... 36 Location of RPUs and Weather Sensors ................ 38 Recommendations for Location of RPUs and Weather Sensors . 40 Conclusions Regarding Sensors .......................... 43 Recommendations .................................. 44 Evaluation of Road Meteorology Sources ........................ 44 Types of Meteorology Sources .......................... 44 Media ..................................... 44 The National Weather Service ...................... 45 Other Government Sources ........................ 46 Value-added Meteorological Services .................. 46 Evaluation of Sources ................................ 47 Field Testing Results ................................ 47 Uses of Meteorological Data ....................... 50 Weather Forecasts ............................. 50 Pavement Temperature Forecasts .................... 53 Conclusions ...................................... 53 Recommendations .................................. 54 Evaluation of Road Thermal Analysis .......................... 54 Testing of Road Thermal Analysis ........................ 56 Findings ........................................ 58 Costs ................ : ......................... 62 Conclusions ...................................... 64 Recommendations .................................. 65 RWIS Communications ................................... 65 Options for RWIS Communications ....................... 66 Conclusions ...................................... 70 Communications Protocols and Data Formats ............. 70 Intrastate Communication ......................... 70 Data Ownership ............................... 71 Data Archiving ............................... 71 Recommendations .................................. 71 Methodology for the Cost Analysis ............................ 72 Determining Costs .................................. 72 Model Inputs ..................................... 74 Regional Practices ............................. 74 Climate .................................... 74 Road Conditions .............................. 74 Model Operation ................................... 75 vi Model Structure ................................... 78 One-Variable Arrays ............................ 79 Two-Variable Array ............................ 80 Three-Variable Arrays ........................... 80 Model Runs ...................................... 83 Demonstration Runs ............................ 83 Data Runs .................................. 84 Results ......................................... 86 Conclusions ...................................... 89 Winter Index ......................................... 90 Purpose ........................................ 90 Methodology ..................................... 91 Winter Index Performance ............................. 93 Spatial Variation of Winter Index .................... 93 Temporal Variation of Winter Index .................. 94 Correlation of Winter Index to Snow and Ice Control Costs .... 94 Conclusions ...................................... 98 3 RWIS Implementation ................................... 101 Summary of Current Snow and Ice Control Practices ................ 101 Strategies for Using RWIS Information ........................ 102 Patrolling ...................................... 102 Deicing ....................................... 103 Plowing ....................................... 104 Anti-Icing ...................................... 104 Deciding to Acquire an RWIS .............................. 105 Contracting for Meteorological Services ........................ 107 Evaluating Meteorological Services ...................... 108 Contracting for RWIS Hardware ............................ 109 RWIS Maintenance ..................................... 109 Establishing an RWIS Maintenance Program ................. 110 Barriers to RWlS Implementation ............................ 110 Removing Barriers to Implementation ..................... 111 Weather Advice ....................................... 111 Liability and RWlS Technologies ............................ 112 4 Conclusions and Recommendations ........................... 115 Sensor Siting ........................................ 116 Siting Pavement Sensors ............................. 116 Siting RPUs and Weather Sensors ......................