THE FHWA PROGRAM FOR PROTOTYPING ADVANCED DECISION SUPPORT FOR WINTER ROAD MAINTENANCE Steve Beningo Rural Intelligent Transportation Systems Specialist Midwestern Resource Center Federal Highway Administration

Maintenance Decision Support System Objective The objective of the Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) project is to produce a prototype tool for decision support to winter road maintenance managers.

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The Maintenance Decision Support System Will be based on leading diagnostic and prognostic research systems of weather and road behavior. Will be non-proprietary, thus the intellectual content contained in the MDSS prototype will be available for Federal and private applications.

Maintenance Decision Support System Prototype Developers  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): Environmental Technology Lab (ETL) Forecast System Lab (FSL) National Severe Storm Lab (NSSL)  Department of Defense (DOD): The Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab (CRREL) The Air Force MIT/Lincoln Lab (MIT/LL) University consortium: The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)

Maintenance Decision Support System Approach Employ National Labs to develop prototype modules Iterative development with users and system deployers Based on open systems principles Field test

Maintenance Decision Support System Project Goal To develop a prototype capability that: Capitalizes on existing road and weather sources. Augments data sources where they are weak. Fuses data to make an open, integrated and understandable presentation of current environmental and road conditions. Generates diagnostic and prognostic maps of road conditions.

Maintenance Decision Support System Project Goal To develop a prototype capability that: Provides a display capability on the state of the roadway. Provides a decision support tool, which provides recommendations on road maintenance courses of action. Uses a single platform, with simple and intuitive operating requirements. Provides a readily comprehensible display of results and recommended courses of action.

Development Schedule FY 2001 – The Federal Highway Administration works with State Departments of Transportation and the private sector on the development of a prototype Maintenance Decision Support System. FY 2002 and FY 2003 – Demonstration and evaluation of selected components of the prototype in one or more operational systems.

Development Schedule Prototype Development 9/00 9/01 Field Test & Evaluation 7/03 Deployment

Decision Support Needs Covered all surface transportation decision makers Defined 426 needs Across 44 decision maker categories Across 3 scales: planning, operational, and warning With respect to decision makers: first understand the information needs of these users and operators of the transportation system to be able to treat, respond to or cope with weather threats.

Examples of Needs Micro-Scale Warning 1.1 Control Spreader Application 1.2 Control Plow 1.3 Control Static (Bridge) Deicer 1.4 Observe/Report 1.5 Navigate Spreader/Plow Truck

Meso/Synoptic Operational Examples of Needs Meso/Synoptic Operational 2.1 Monitor Conditions 2.2 Prepare 2.3 Select Strategy 2.4 Assign Crews 2.5 Prepare Equipment

Meso/Synoptic Operational Examples of Needs Meso/Synoptic Operational 2.6 Activate Staff 2.7 Initial Dispatching 2.8 Contracting 2.9 Mid-Storm Management 2.10 Cleanup

Synoptic/Climatic Planning Examples of Needs Synoptic/Climatic Planning 3.1 Devise Response Plan 3.2 Hire Staff 3.3 Train Staff 3.4 Buy Equipment/Services

Synoptic/Climatic Planning Examples of Needs Synoptic/Climatic Planning 3.5 Stock Stores 3.6 Budget 3.7 Schedule Seasonal Tasks 3.8 Calibrate Treatment Controls

Important Environmental Factors Event Definition – start and stop times Precipitation Characteristics - type, amount, and rate Road Condition – temperature, chemical concentration, coverage by liquid phases) Snow Status – depth on road and drift patterns Risk – Confidence and/or probabilities associated with the data elements.

Conceptual System Structure Weather Data Advanced Weather Capabilities Road Condition Module Decision Support Logic Display

Weather Data Standard Data Sources – such as National Weather Service data. Nonstandard Data Sources – such as road weather sensor data, video images, and advanced numerical forecast model output. Surface data will be critical for the system.

Advanced Weather Capabilities Precipitation-Type Algorithms Weather Condition Diagnosis from Video Cameras Data Fusion Algorithms and Advanced Forecasting Technologies

Road Condition Module Road Temperature Algorithm Road Surface Friction Algorithm Road Chemical Concentration Snow Drift Algorithm

Decision Support Logic Integrates environmental, road condition and State Department of Transportation operations data. Rules of Practice Algorithms – Will suggest courses of action based on predicated conditions, and the potential consequences of inaction.

Display ArcView will be used for the prototype. ArcView is a commercial desktop GIS system developed by the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI). ArcView can display point or grid data, and numerous map data sets.

References & Contacts All documents are posted on the Electronic Document Library http://www.its.dot.gov/welcome.htm To participate in the Maintenance Decision Support System contact: Rudy Persaud – 202-493-3391 rudy.persaud@fhwa.dot.gov Gary Nelson – 202-488-5718 gnelson@mitretek.org