ROAD WEATHER FORECASTS FOR A WINTER ROAD MAINTENANCE INFORMATION CENTER

In Germany, an increased number of road weather monitoring stations have been installed along the Autobahnen of the highway system since the early 1980s to monitor the weather conditions and their effect on the state of the roads. The data of these stations is used by the German Meteorological Service to monitor actual road weather, to predict road weather conditions and to develop new forecast methods. The quality of the road weather monitoring has varied, depending on the ability and experience of the personnel at the centers. The interpretation of the data and of the alerts provided by the monitoring stations in connection with the weather development and predictions has often been carried out in an unsatisfactory manner, and there has been a lack of knowledge which could not be removed by additional training. The necessity of reorganization of the road weather monitoring system and the coordination of winter road maintenance has become apparent. This paper describes how the coordination of winter road maintenance has changed in the state of Northrhine-Westfalia and its possible effects on the cooperation between the road administration and the German Meteorological Service.