U.S. Road Weather Management Program - Sensor Siting and Weather Information Integration Projects

This paper reports on two key projects of the United States Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Road Weather Management Program. The program partnered with the Aurora Program, and the Snow and Ice Cooperative Program of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) to create Road Weather Information System (RWIS) Environmental Sensor Station (ESS) Siting Guidelines. The guidelines provide a set of recommendations to support the uniform siting of sensor stations that collect road and weather condition observations. The FHWA also sponsored a study on the Integration of Emergency and Weather Elements into Transportation Management Centers (TMCs). The study documented how weather information and systems are being integrated into transportation operations. The investigators found that by providing accurate and timely road weather information, effectively integrating weather and traffic information, and providing automated alerts and decision support, TMC operators are able to better manage traffic, dispatch maintenance forces, and address weather-related emergencies. These projects illustrate how the collection of road weather observations and the use of these observations to produce road weather information can be used to improve roadway operations.