Road Weather Management Program
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Best Practices for Road Weather Management Version 2.0

Title:

Automated Extraction of Weather Variables from Camera Imagery

Abstract:

The MIT Lincoln Laboratory under funding from the FHWA is investigating new techniques to extract weather and road condition parameters from standard traffic camera imagery. To date, work has focused on developing an algorithm to measure atmospheric visibility and prove the algorithm concept. The initial algorithm examines the natural edges within the image (e.g., the horizon, tree lines, roadways, permanent buildings) and performs a comparison of each image with a historical composite image. This comparison enables the system to determine the visibility in the direction of the sensor by detecting which edges are visible and which are not. A primary goal of the automated camera imagery feature extraction system is to ingest digital imagery with limited specific site information such as location, height, angle, and visual extent, thereby making the system easier for users to implement. There are, of course, many challenges in providing a reliable automated estimate of the visibility under all conditions (camera blockage/movement, dirt/raindrops on lens, etc) and the system attempts to compensate for these situations. This paper details the work-to-date on the visibility algorithm and defines a path for further development of the overall system.

Source(s):

2005 Mid-Continent Transportation Research Symposium; MIT Lincoln Laboratory and FHWA Road Weather Management Program. For an electronic copy of this resource, please direct your request to WeatherFeedback@dot.gov.

Date: 2005

Author:

Hallowell, Matthews, Pisano

Keywords:


Visibility

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