Keeping roads clear of snow and ice is a complex and demanding task
for highway agencies, particularly in an era of tight budgets, increased
traffic volume, and high customer expectations. Forecasting and meteorological
information aids in this task, but there is often not enough of a
link between the weather information available and the decisions made
by winter maintenance managers. To help close the gap, the Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA) launched a project in 1999 under its
Road Weather Management Program to develop a new Maintenance Decision
Support System (MDSS). After being tested in demonstration projects
over the last 2 years, "the system has proven itself to be an invaluable
tool for winter operations," says Paul Pisano of FHWA. It offers the
potential to save highway agencies millions of dollars annually in
winter road maintenance costs.
Participating in the development and implementation of the MDSS has
been a consortium that includes State highway agencies, academia,
the private sector, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions
Research and Engineering Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric
Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Lincoln Laboratory,
and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Forecast
Systems Laboratory.
The MDSS project has integrated state-of-the-art weather forecasting
and data fusion and optimization techniques with computerized winter
road maintenance rules of practice. These are maintenance operations
practices and procedures translated into computer logic. The result
is a software system that provides maintenance managers with a specific
forecast of road surface conditions and treatment recommendations
customized for plow routes.
The system uses National Weather Service (NWS) models that receive
data from the NWS National Centers for Environmental Prediction. These
data include surface observations, statistical guidance, and daily
weather summaries. The NWS models are supplemented by NOAA models
that present an enhanced representation of clouds and precipitation,
providing a more accurate weather prediction. The system also draws
upon surface observations from State highway agency road weather information
systems, as well as such specialized algorithms as a road temperature
forecast module and a road condition and treatment module. An additional
system module contains rules-of-practice algorithms, which customize
data based on State's winter maintenance rules and techniques.
Road treatment guidance provided to MDSS users addresses the fundamental
questions of "what," "how much," and "when." For each route, the system
recommends:
The MDSS also features a "what-if" scenario treatment selector. This
allows a user to modify the recommended treatment times, chemical
types, or application rates, and then see predictions of how the
road condition might change over the next 48 hours (e.g., predicted
pavement temperature, chemical concentration, snow depth, or road
surface condition).
The MDSS was tested in Des Moines and Ames, Iowa, from February to
April 2003. Three of the Iowa Department of Transportation's (DOT)
maintenance garages, covering 15 plow routes, participated in the
demonstration. Following the demonstration, further enhancements were
made to the system. These enhancements included improving the rules-of-practice
module so that it could handle changing weather situations predicted
several hours into the future as a storm evolved. Another feature
added was a blowing snow potential alert, which is based on precipitation
type, snowfall history, snowfall rate, air temperature, and wind speed.
A second demonstration was held in central Iowa in the winter of
2004. "Enhancements made to all aspects of the prototype based on
the results of the 2003 demonstration made a significant difference
in the quality of the forecasts and treatment guidance and the subsequent
confidence shown by the users," notes Pisano. Iowa DOT has estimated
that using the MDSS could save between 10 and 15 percent of its annual
maintenance costs, totaling approximately $3.5 million each year.
A small amount of additional development for the MDSS will continue
into 2005, including testing the system in Colorado and conducting
research on how to better predict the onset of road and bridge frost.
As the system matures, FHWA and its partners will be shifting their
focus to technology transfer efforts, starting this year. This includes
making the results of the MDSS research and development available
to the private sector and working with the private sector to simplify
the integration of MDSS capabilities into their winter maintenance
technology product lines. It also includes providing support to State
highway agencies as they look at using the MDSS and procuring MDSS
services from the private sector. For more information about the MDSS
or to obtain a copy of the software, contact Paul Pisano at FHWA,
202-366-1301 (email: paul.pisano@fhwa.dot.gov).
FHWA's Road Weather Management Program is launching a new initiative,
known as Clarus, to create a Nationwide Surface Transportation Weather
Observing and Forecasting System. This system will provide a one-stop
portal for all surface transportation weather-related observations,
featuring real-time data that can be incorporated into weather or
traffic models, traveler information, or decision support systems.
The ultimate goal of Clarus is to reduce the impact of adverse weather
for all road and transit users and operators. An Initiative Coordinating
Committee (ICC) is being established to serve as a source of expert
guidance for the 6-year project. The ICC will include representatives
from FHWA, State highway agencies, NOAA and other Federal agencies,
academia, and the private sector. To learn more about Clarus or participating
in the ICC, contact Paul Pisano at FHWA, 202-366-1301 (email: paul.pisano@fhwa.dot.gov),
or James Pol at FHWA, 202-366-4374 (email: james.pol@fhwa.dot.gov).
