MDSS Prototype Technical Overview

The MDSS ingests weather forecast data at locations important to the user’s operations. These forecast locations are typically at surface observation stations such as RWIS and METAR sites, though they need not be. The weather forecasts at each forecast location serve as input to the pavement heat balance model (e.g., METRo) that predicts the road surface and subsurface temperatures and the snow depth at each forecast lead-time. These forecast road conditions are used to generate treatment plans at each site based on Rules of Practice guidelines. The prototype MDSS also includes a graphical user interface display designed for easy interpretation by road maintenance managers. This display application is designed to allow the maintenance manager to generate “what-if” scenarios by setting up customized treatment plans and seeing the resulting predicted road conditions.

system architecture

Figure 1. System architecture used in current MDSS winter demonstrations.

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road condition treatment module

Figure 2. Illustration of Road Condition and Treatment Module logic.

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factors considered in pavement condition prediction process

Figure 3. Factors considered in the pavement condition prediction process.

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Figure 4. Factors affecting chemical concentration.

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