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

Title:

Remote Sensors for Pavement Ice Detection: Draft Final Report

Abstract:

During a research project sponsored by the USDOT Small Business Innovation Research Program, an active infrared (IR) remote sensor for wide-area pavement ice detection was developed. A hardened system was built and field tested at a DOT site in Duluth, MN. Icing test performed using the active IR sensor demonstrated good detection capability. The sensor could detect ice as thin as 0.005 inches as well as measure ice thickness. In addition, the sensor could discriminate between dry pavement and ice, snow and water. The sensor promises a level of performance previously unavailabe with current embedded sensors. Future work will incorporate additional sensing capability to provide a complete weather prediction capability.

Source(s):

Innovative Dynamics, Prepared for the U.S. DOT Small Business Innovation Research Program. For an electronic copy of this resource, please direct your request to WeatherFeedback@dot.gov.

Date: 2000

Author:

Dahl

Keywords:


Environmental Sensor Station (ESS)
Ice/Frost

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