Enhancing Road Weather Information Through Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII)
Kevin R. Petty Ph.D. and
William P. Mahoney III
National Center for Atmospheric ResearchBoulder, Colorado
AMS Corporate Forum 2007
Weather Impacts Safety, Mobility, and Efficiency
84 49 57 21 235 24 44 55596
7400
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1000
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4000
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7000
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Flood
Lightning
Tornado
Hurricane
HeatCold
Winter Storm
Wind
Total NWS Tracked
Adverse Road WX
Fatalities Per Year
An investigation of vehicle crashes spanning from 1995 through 2004 revealed that each year there are over 1,500,000 crashes that occur during poor weather conditions, which result in more than 690,000 people injured and nearly 7,400 fatalities*
*FHWA/Mitretek Systems
+
+NOAA Surface Weather Program
Mitigating the Impact of Weather
• A vigorous road weather research program aimed at understanding road weather phenomena and the effect of weather on safety, capacity and efficiency
• Improved modeling capabilities and forecast systems
• An integrated observation network and data management system
• Enhanced delivery and communication of road weather information
• New technologies to improve weather and road condition analyses and forecasts.
Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) has the potential to facilitate advancements in each of these areas
DEFINITION: Vehicle to Infrastructure (V-I) and Vehicle to Vehicle (V-V) communication through Dedicated Short Range Communications
(DSRC- wireless radio comm. 5.9 GHz)
What is VII?
RegionalRegionalMessageMessageSwitchSwitch
RegionalRegionalMessageMessageSwitchSwitch
SubscriberApplications
5.9 DSRC
EndUserEndUserDriverDriver
Vehicle #1 Data
Driver interface
On BoardOn BoardEquipmentEquipmentOn BoardOn Board
EquipmentEquipment
Road SideRoad SideEquipmentEquipmentRoad SideRoad SideEquipmentEquipment
DSRCVIISystem
Connects Vehicles and InfrastructureConnects Vehicles and Infrastructure
Vehicle #2 Data
Potential Rural RSE Deployment
10 min spacing @ 60 mph
Urban RSE Deployment
Detroit
2 min spacing @ 20 mph
Probe Message Processes
• Periodic Data – elements that are routinely available for collection (e.g. temperature and vehicle speed)
• Event Data – elements that are available on a irregular basis (e.g. ABS and traction control)
• Snapshot – a collection of vehicle data elements (e.g. temperature, barometric pressure, etc.) valid at a specific time▪ Periodic ▪ Event triggered▪ Start/Stop
• Event triggered and start/stop snapshots have priority over periodic snapshots
Weather-related Vehicle Data Elements• Hours of operation• Elevation • Accelerometer data• Vehicle speed• Heading• Rate of change of steering wheel• Exterior temperature• Windshield wiper setting• Rain sensor• Sun sensor• Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) radar
• Atmospheric Pressure• Ambient noise level • Headlights• Relative humidity • ABS• Traction control• Stability control• Pavement temperature• Brake
DaimlerChrysler Vehicle Data Elements andDetroit (DTX) WSR-88D Data
Diagnosing Boundary Conditions and Precipitation
2006-05-2522:12:13Z
2006-05-2522:57:43Z
Weather Data Translator (WDT)
Processing system toconvert vehicle datainto useful weather & road condition information
Potential Weather and Road Condition Improvements
Improved High-Resolution Modeling
As weather models increase in resolution, observations will need to increase as well to better define the regional/local state of the atmosphere.
Vehicle observations can fill-in the gaps in the fixed observation network.
Potential Weather and Road Condition Improvements
Improved identification of precipitation and precipitation type
Currently, precipitation type is determined by airport observations (METARS) which are few and far between!
Vehicle data (air temperature, and data from maintenance or patrol vehicles) would greatly improve product accuracy.
Potential Weather and Road Condition Improvements
Improved identification of slippery pavement
Anti-lock Braking, Traction Control, and Stability Control systems are designed to monitor wheel events linked to the pavement/tire interface. By making appropriate adjustments to other onboard systems (e.g. throttle, braking, etc.) the greatest amount of traction possible is achieved.
Although these systems do not directly measure friction, it may be possible to derive information on the state of the roadway from event data.
Potential Weather and Road Condition Improvements
Identification of Foggy Regions
The use of vehicle data (relative humidity, fog and head lamp settings, speed, and brake data) coupled with other data sets (e.g., satellite, surface analysis data) could be used to diagnose areas where fog is likely.
This product concept is challenging!
Potential Weather and Road Condition Improvements
Improved air quality predictions
Vehicle data (type, location) could be used to replace averaged datasets to analyze and predict air quality.
Multi-scale
Regional Air
Quality Model
Multi-scale
Regional Air
Quality Model
Meteorological Data
Meteorological Data
Auto Emission Calculatio
n
Auto Emission Calculatio
n
VII Data
VII Data
Regional Air Quality Decision Support
-Current Pollution concentrations-Predicted Pollution concentrations
Regional Air Quality Decision Support
-Current Pollution concentrations-Predicted Pollution concentrations
Macro-scale
Emission Inventory
Macro-scale
Emission Inventory
Potential Weather and Road Condition Improvements
Improved pavement conditions
Vehicle pavement temperature data could be used to fill-in observations from fixed sensor sites.
Potential Weather and Road Condition Improvements
* Identification of slippery pavement* Improved knowledge of pavement temperatures* Improved knowledge of pavement condition (dry, wet, snow covered, etc.)* Reducing radar anomalous propagation (AP)* Improved identification of virga (precipitation not reaching the ground)* Improved identification of precipitation type* Improved identification of foggy regions* Improved characterization of surface conditions for weather models* Improved weather analysis and prediction in complex terrain* Improved air quality monitoring and prediction* Improved diagnosis of boundary layer water vapor
Research Needs and Challenges
•Adoption Rates•Data Volume•Probe Message Proc.•Quality and Accuracy•Data Fusion
Research Needs and Challenges
•Adoption Rates•Data Volume•Probe Message Proc.•Quality and Accuracy•Data Fusion
Research Needs and Challenges
•Adoption Rates•Data Volume•Probe Message Proc.•Quality and Accuracy•Data Fusion
Research Needs and Challenges
•Adoption Rates•Data Volume•Probe Message Proc.•Quality and Accuracy•Data Fusion
Research Needs and Challenges
•Adoption Rates•Data Volume•Probe Message Proc.•Quality and Accuracy•Data Fusion
Road Weather Impact Products
VII enables tactical and strategic response to weather related surface transportation hazards.
New weather and road condition data (incl. VII and Clarus data) should be integrated into a seamless information database(s) to support:
• 511
• In-vehicle information
• Traveler information
• Highway operations
• Control systems
• Weather Prediction
• Road Condition Prediction
• Etc.
Improving Safety, Mobility and Efficiency