What do you want in MDSS Functionality?

1. MDSS Stakeholders Meeting What do you want in MDSS Functionality? October 20, 2005 Ray Murphy, FHWA ray.murphy@fhwa.dot.gov

2. Submitted by Thor Dyson,Nevada DOT: “The typical goal of an MDSS system is the integration of "state of the art" weather forecasting, modeling, and providing recommendations for optimal (winter) road maintenance practices.” “Using all these elements, the MDSS provides decision makers with a specific forecast of road conditions and treatment recommendations, customized for each highway segment / plow routes.” What do you want in MDSS Functionality?

3. What do you want in MDSS Functionality? • weather forecasting • modeling • optimal maintenance practices • "what if" scenarios.  • support other activities • frequency of forecast • treatment recommendations – basis, etc. • drifting snow • archival capability What do you want in MDSS Functionality?

4. Submitted by Thor Dyson,Nevada DOT: • Weather forecasting should include RWIS data, and all other applicable weather data sources needed to get a good weather picture.  • Modeling (based on thermal mapping and detailed knowledge of the area) further refines the weather data to allow good forecasts of road conditions along specific (plow) routes.  • Optimal maintenance practices would be data driven recommendations for a route specific treatment plan, to include treatment types (anti-icing, plow only, plow with sand and/or sand, etc.), the amount of materials to use (application rates), and the timing of initial and subsequent treatments. What do you want in MDSS Functionality?

5. What Nevada DOT wants in MDSS Functionality? • The MDSS system software should also include the capability to perform "what if" scenarios.  For example, the system should allow you to evaluate different treatment scenarios such as changing application rates or treatment timing (under given weather forecasts), and see the predicted results in terms of road conditions.  Likewise, the scenario could be if we use this treatment plan, but then the weather unexpectedly changes (i.e. the forecast was wrong), what will happen to the road surfaces. • Finally, in addition to winter operations, the MDSS should support other activities such as planning for construction work and even routine maintenance work scheduling and execution. What do you want in MDSS Functionality?

6. Submitted by John Burkhardt, Indianapolis Dept. of Public Works: How frequently the forecast and recommendation should be updated? In an ideal world it would be constantly, but that's not practical. Our current forecast comes up every 6 hours and is for the following 24 hours. I would like it more often - maybe every 3 or 4 hours (something easily divided into 24). • MDSS functionality should: • Be automatically generated by the provider • Be available on a pre-scheduled frequency • Be able to be updated on demand • Be specific in forecast and recommendations within the 6 hours following the forecast What do you want in MDSS Functionality?

7. Submitted by Indianapolis Dept. of Public Works: • Possibly be more generic (less specific) for a time period beyond 6 hours of the forecast but informative enough for operational planning. • Give specific recommendations based on a variety of materials used by the customer - include both chemical and mechanical treatment recommendations. • Explain why specific recommendations are made, particularly during unusual weather situations. • Clearly show how to most effectively start treatments and when to end them. • Should tie recommendations to atmospheric and particularly pavement level forecasts. What do you want in MDSS Functionality?

8. Submitted by Mike Adams & Tom Martinelli, Wisconsin DOT • This is most important: • Increased forecast accuracy, • time resolution, and • grid scale.  • The vendor must run all software. • Ability to provide treatment recommendations based on each state's guidelines.  Traffic volume and levels of service must be included. • Drifting snow algorithm. • Ability to input treatments to update output. • Archival capability for use in training. What do you want in MDSS Functionality?

9. MDSS Pooled Fund Study Program multi-phase research and development program Technology Contractor Meridian Environmental Technology, Inc. Grand Forks, ND • South Dakota (lead) • North Dakota • Iowa • Minnesota • Indiana • Colorado • Wyoming (joined in 2005) • Kansas (joined in 2005 Timeframe of Project • Began late November 2002 • Limited testing Mar/Apr 2004 • Test sites on 22 routes in five states • Deployment testing • Winter 2004-05 • 22+ routes in six states • Winter 2005-06 • Broad scale deployment testing • Operational deployment Winter 2006-07 • Program Director David Huft Office of Research South Dakota DOT Additional research assistance provided by the University of North Dakota through funding provided by FHWA, NDDOT, SDDOT, UND and Meridian Environmental Technology.

10. MDSS Pooled Fund Study program efforts: • Develop GIS based interface that allows users to customize the display for their needs • Improve weather forecasting module by integrating FHWA/NCAR ensemble model forecasting into the application • Add blowing and drifting snow model to application • Design system with open architecture to allow other vendors the ability to plug-in forecast models into system after pooled fund project is completed What do you want in MDSS Functionality?

11. Develop GIS based interface that allows users to customize the display for their needs The GIS View of the PFS MDSS GUI is the geospatial display component of the GUI. It is based upon the OpenMap open source Java GIS toolset. Users are provided a basemap with pan, zoom, and static GIS overlay capabilities (e.g., counties, cities, roads, etc.). These static overlays are distributed in the delivered executable and therefore are immediately available and responsive to user requests. In addition, the GUI presently supports dynamic overlay types, including displays of weather, RWIS, and maintenance data, as well as MDSS' analyses and forecasts of road conditions. These overlays are dynamic in the sense that they change over time. The user is provided a time slider that can be move forward or backward in time to view past, present, or future data in a geospatial format. MDSS Pooled Fund Study program efforts:

12. Improve weather forecasting module by integrating FHWA/NCAR ensemble model forecasting into the application Technically there is no 'weather forecast module' in the PFS MDSS. We were directed by our Technical Panel that they did not want to be obligated to continue receiving their forecast service from Meridian in order to use the MDSS… …the approach we've taken in the PFS MDSS is to provide the hooks for weather & related data from any meteorological services provider to be fed into and processed by the system, but left the improvement of weather forecasting technologies to the individual meteorological service providers to pursue. MDSS Pooled Fund Study program efforts:

13. What do you want in MDSS Functionality? Add blowing and drifting snow model to application We have integrated support for a blowing snow module and the application of its output into both the server- and client-side software of the PFS MDSS, and are working with the University of North Dakota's Surface Transportation Weather Research Center to develop and implement an improved blowing snow module for initial application within the PFS MDSS. The implementation of this module is underway this month. Design system with open architecture to allow other vendors the ability to plug-in forecast models into system after pooled fund project is completed While this idea continues to be pushed for by the PFS MDSS, it has proven difficult to gain buy-in to such an idea from the meteorological services providers. The data formats and interfacing requirements will nonetheless be published to the community. The system uses no proprietary formats and has adopted existing standards wherever a practical preexisting standard was in place. MDSS Pooled Fund Study program efforts:

14. MDSS PFS - Essential Elements/Functionality: • Report actual road surface conditions • Report actual maintenance treatments • Assess past & present weather conditions • Assess present state of roadway • Predict storm-event weather • Recognize resource constraints • Identify feasible maintenance treatments • Predict road surface behavior • Communicate recommendations to supervisors & workers What do you want in MDSS Functionality?

15. What do you want in MDSS Functionality? • weather forecasting • modeling • optimal maintenance practices • "what if" scenarios.  • support other activities • frequency of forecast • treatment recommendations – basis, etc. • drifting snow • archival capability • GIS View of the GUI • open architecture • tuning – statistical corrections/configuration feedback What do you want in MDSS Functionality?