Regional Operations Forum Road Weather Management Session - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Regional Operations Forum Road Weather Management Session - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Accelerating solutions for highway safety, renewal, reliability, and capacity Regional Operations Forum Road Weather Management Session Objectives Provide high-level awareness of road weather management Develop awareness of principles


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Regional Operations Forum Road Weather Management

Accelerating solutions for highway safety, renewal, reliability, and capacity

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Session Objectives

  • Provide high-level awareness of road weather

management

  • Develop awareness of principles and elements

associated with modern road weather management

  • Understand how to implement elements of road weather

management

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The Road Weather Problem

  • Safety:

– 1.57± million weather-related crashes/year

  • 7,400 fatalities; 690,000 injuries

– 24% of all crashes occurred on slick pavement or under adverse weather

  • Mobility: 15% of delay caused by bad weather
  • Productivity: Weather-related delay adds $3.4

billion to freight costs annually

  • Environment: Chemicals effect watersheds, air

quality and infrastructure

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Types of Weather

  • Winter weather

– Snow, especially first snow – Blowing and drifting snow – Freezing rain

  • Rain

– Especially heavy rain or first rain

  • Limited visibility

– Fog or dust/sand storms

  • Frost

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Weather Effects on Traffic Operations

  • Reduced Visibility
  • Reduced Roadway Friction
  • Reduced Roadway Capacity
  • Damaged Infrastructure
  • Blocked Roadways
  • Inundated Roadways and Flooding
  • Coastal Evacuation
  • Increased Speed Differential
  • Increased Driver Stress

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Weather Data and Information Sources

  • Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS)—Fixed

sensors and mobile sensors

  • Weather observing systems

– Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS) — NOAA – Automated Weather Observing Systems (AWOS) — FAA – Both provide the basis for NWS forecasts

  • MADIS

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Road Weather Information System (RWIS)

  • Environmental sensor stations

(ESS) to collect data

  • A communication system for

data transfer

  • Central server to process data
  • Dissemination of information to

agencies/motorists

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How is RWIS used?

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ESS

RWIS

INFORMATION STAKEHOLDERS NEEDS CAMERAS TRAFFIC NWS MAINT NWS WSP TMC 511

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Michigan RWIS Deployment

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Available Weather Resources

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Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS)

  • Collect, integrate, quality control, and distribute
  • bservations from NOAA and non-NOAA organizations.
  • Leverages partnerships with multiple partner agencies to

integrate observations – Including state departments of transportation – Provides a finer density, higher frequency

  • bservational database for use by the greater

meteorological community

  • MADIS runs operationally in real time in the National

Weather Service (NWS)

  • Many states are making RWIS data available to MADIS

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Weather Forecasts

  • All weather observations can improve weather forecasts

– The more information, the better – National Weather Service – Private meteorological services

  • RWIS performs double duty

– RWIS information is used directly by maintenance crews, supervisors, and managers – Information from RWIS feeds and improves weather forecasts

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Benefits of Reliable Weather Forecasts

  • Improved resource allocation

– Crews sent to the right places at the right times – With the right equipment – With the right treatment material (and the right amount)

  • Effective resource allocation results in safer roads and

reduced costs A key to effective road weather management is timely and accurate forecasts and measurements.

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Pavement Condition Prediction

  • Forecasts of pavement temperatures and conditions
  • Supporting information for treatment decisions

– When and if to treat – What type of treatment to use

  • Valuable input to maintenance staff for resource

allocation

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Weather Responsive Traffic Management (WRTM)

  • Three types of WRTM strategies

– Advisory strategies provide information on prevailing and predicted conditions

  • Posting fog warnings on dynamic message signs
  • Listing flooded routes on web sites

– Control strategies alter the state of roadway devices to permit or restrict traffic

  • Reducing speed limits with variable speed limit signs
  • Modifying traffic signal timing based on pavement conditions

– Treatment strategies supply resources

  • Most common treatment strategies are application of sand,

salt, and anti-icing chemicals to pavements

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Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS)

  • System to support winter maintenance activities
  • Capitalizes on existing road and weather data sources

– Augments data sources where they are weak or where improved accuracy could significantly improve the decision-making task – Fuses data to make an open, integrated, and understandable presentation of current environmental and road conditions

  • Proactive resource management, equipment

management, cost management for highly variable winter operations

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,000

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MDSS Benefits

  • Indiana DOT program benefits

– Statewide implementation 2009 – Saved 228,000 tons of salt = $12M – Saved 58,000 hours of overtime = $1.4M

  • One-stop for winter weather information
  • Consistency in tracking/reporting among regional

maintenance groups

  • Supports proactive training
  • Looking toward mobile data collection capabilities

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Road Weather Management Performance Measures

  • Will differ on types of weather encountered
  • Will differ by agency objectives
  • Sample measures

– Regain time

  • Time to return to “normal” seasonal conditions

– Coefficient of friction or “grip” factor – Benefit–Cost

  • What weather related performance measures does your

agency use?

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Notable Trends

  • Open RWIS architecture
  • Noninvasive sensors
  • Importance of camera imagery
  • Mobile data collection and AVL
  • Multistate weather response coordination
  • Interest in connected vehicles
  • Integration of weather and traffic management (@ TMC)

– Including traveler information

  • Emphasis on performance measurement

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Group Discussion

  • What weather events do you have to manage?
  • What road weather management tools do you use?
  • What has been successful?
  • What are the gaps you still have?
  • What new equipment, systems, or processes are you

developing or exploring?

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Weather Takeaways

  • Do you take advantage of all the weather resources

available to you (appropriate to your role)?

  • Has your agency looked into mobile weather data

collection?

  • Has your agency looked into the MDSS? Does it use it?

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