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The Next Generation Road Weather Information System: A New Paradigm for Road and Rail Severe Weather Prediction in the UK
Author(s) -
Thornes John,
Chapman Lee
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
geography compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.587
H-Index - 65
ISSN - 1749-8198
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-8198.2008.00129.x
Subject(s) - mesoscale meteorology , meteorology , snow , environmental science , salting , nowcasting , transport engineering , climatology , geography , engineering , geology , chemistry , food science
The use of road weather information systems for the winter maintenance of roads is now widespread around the world. However, road weather forecasts are normally only made available for a limited number of road sensor sites in a region. For example, in Birmingham, UK, there is one forecast site for 26 salting routes. XRWIS is the next generation road weather information system that forecasts for every 20 m along each salting route (typically 50 km long) using a geographical information system, sky‐view factor analysis and mesoscale weather forecasts. Treatment requirements for each salting route are then visualised in simple ‘traffic‐light’ style colours. In a recent winter‐long trial in Devon, UK, up to 78 salting runs on six salting routes could have been prevented saving up to £80,000 in labour and materials. Other potential applications of XRWIS include the prediction of low rail adhesion in winter, due to ice, frost and snow, and track buckling in summer.