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Clarus: The National Surface Transportation Weather Observing and Forecasting System

Roemer M. AlfelorFHWA Office of Transportation OperationsWashington DC

December 1, 2004MnDOT Regional Traffic Management CenterRoseville, MN

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FHWA Road Weather Management

Objectives: To better understand the impacts ofweather on highways, and develop and deploystrategies that can mitigate those impacts, throughthe following activities:

1. Partnership and Collaboration2. Customer Service and Outreach3. Tools and Technologies

• Maintenance Decision Support• Weather-Responsive Traffic Management • Road Weather Observing/Forecasting Systems

4. Program Management and Evaluation

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Clarus Observing System

• What – Demonstration of a regional road

weather observation and forecasting system, and partnership to establish a nationwide road weather observation network.

• Why– To reduce the impact of adverse

weather on all road and transit users and operators.

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Clarus Context Diagram

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Clarus Use Case Scenario

Service Provider

Traffic Operations Center

External Weather Data Sources

Vehicle Data Collector

ESS Data Collector/RWIS

Patrol or Maintenance

Vehicle

ESS Equipment

Provide Nowcast

and Forecast

Provide Other

DecisionSupport

Info

Provide ESS Data

Provide Vehicle

Data

Integrate and Transform

Service Provider Data

Network Operator

Clarus

TransferQuality

Controlled Data

CollectExternal Weather

Data

Compare RWIS and

Vehicle Data with

External Weather Data

Collect, Check, Flag

and SendRWIS Data

Collect, Check, Flag

and SendVehicle

Data

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Clarus

Route Specific Radio,TV and Internet Broadcasts of Travel Conditions

Credible &Precise

Travel Advice

Add Detail toHAR & VMS

Spawn New technologies

(in vehicle, PDA)

Create New and More Effective Ways to Convey Surface Transportation Weather Information

Clarus System Applications

Enhance decision making tools

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• A stable and reliable access to integrated surface transportation weather related observations

• Continuous quality control with feedback to customers

• Data available in one common format with full metadata

• Data provided without post-processing, ready to be incorporated into value-added products including weather and traffic models as well as decision support systems

• Support for the inclusion of new technologies such as vehicle-based sensing technologies, surface visibility information from traffic cameras, and remote sensing technologies

Benefits of Clarus

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Clarus Roadmap

Stakeholder Coordination

System Design

FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09

Multi-State RegionalDemonstration

Final Design and Deployment

Tra

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Tra

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Tra

ck 4

Tra

ck 1

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1. Stakeholder Coordination – ICC established and first meeting held in Sept.

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1. Concept of Operations– User Needs and Use Case Drafts(on website)– ICC Meeting/ConOps Review 03/02/05– Final Draft 05/06/05

2. System Design – RFP issued 11/19/04– 20 Months beginning on or about 06/01/05– Systems Engineering stages following Concept of

Operations– Proof-of-Concept

Clarus Roadmap - Status

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• Who is this open to?– Open to all -- Meteorological and

Transportation Communities.

• What level of activity is expected?– Up to the individual. ICC is meant to

provide the stakeholders a voice.

• Is everything left to consensus?– The ICC Management Team makes final

decisions with input from ICC.

Clarus ICC - Membership

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DOT Consultant Team

Clarus Initiative Management Team

Project Task Force

Project Task Force

Clarus Initiative Coordinating

Committee (ICC)

Project Task Force

• USDOT

• NOAA

• ITS America

• AMS

• ITE

• AASHTO

• TRB

Clarus ICC - Organization

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1. Vehicle Infrastructure Integration and Data Collection Enhancement

2. CCTV Technologies for Road Condition and Visibility

3. Phased Array Radar for Near Surface Observing

4. Remote Sensing from NASA Satellites

Clarus Applied Research

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1. ESS Siting Guidelines

2. Missouri DOT Weather Response System for Traffic Management

3. Integration of Weather Information in TMC’s and TOC’s

4. Maintenance Decision-Support System (MDSS) Technology Transfer and Pooled Fund Study

5. Empirical Studies on Weather and Traffic

6. Integrating RWIS Data into MADIS

Related FHWA Activities

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• Paul Pisano – Team Leader, Road Weather Management

Program– paul.pisano@fhwa.dot.gov, 202-366-1301

• Roemer Alfelor– Transp. Specialist, Road Weather Mgmt. Program– roemer.alfelor@fhwa.dot.gov, 202-366-9242

• James Pol– Transp. Specialist, ITS Joint Program Office– james.pol@fhwa.dot.gov, 202-366-4374

• Program Web Sites– http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/weather/– http://www.its.dot.gov/– http://www.clarusinitiative.org

Contact Info