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Web-based Road Monitoring
James Evans writes "The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) are testing a Web-based system for weather forecasting and winter road treatment that could soon save lives, cut costs, and help keep millions of drivers on the move. Highway officials and road crews in Des Moines and Ames, Iowa, will test the Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) February 3 to April 4. The MDSS uses several computer models to project hour-by-hour weather and road conditions up to two days in advance, with an update every three hours."
It isn't intended for the use of drivers, but rather those who maintain and clear the roads. In other words, those who do the salting, sanding, plowing etc.
of Web-enabled roads! Oh, wait, they call those "highways". But seriously, it would take a distributed computing system of impressive strength to predict with decent accuracy what frozen precipitate will come down next. Why hasn't anyone thought of that before? Oh wait, someone has.
View predicted weather and road conditions monitor the potential for deteriorating road conditions.
Predict the impact of upcoming weather on specific road segments.
Assess treatment recommendations based on proven rules of practice.
Devise a plan for anti-icing, deicing, plowing, or other road treatment.
If you ask me, it still looks like they have to physically go out there and do something if it snows. It appears it will only be of major use if the roads are too dangerous to drive on and they can close the roads, or if travelers actually check predicted road conditions before they go traveling.
Regardless, they still have to anti-ice, d-ice, plow, etc. So this wont do any good to the traveler who is already on the road approaching said segment of highway/freeway/road to no where.
Altho I do think its a wonderful way to monitor many different roadways and see which ones need to be treated and which ones dont, which in the long run could save money and lives anyway.
Take it as you will.
I regularly travel from Toronto to Northern Ontario, and it can be a real pain - you drive through 3 snow-belts on the way to SSM.
Here's the site I check before I drive:
Road Conditions
Also handy to call someone (when you have cellular service) and ask them to check the road ahead. I just wish they'd update the site more often.
I just drove from Cincinnati to Lexington and I didn't see a single snow plow or salt truck. Not one. An entire lane of a three-lane interstate highway was snowed over. Useless. Several cars were off the road. One SUV was flipped. Three inches of snow was already on the ground with more falling. It wouldn't take a gadget to tell somebody at the DOT to uproot somebody's ass and get them out working on the roads today.
A few of the ones I use. Not in english.
Traffic
The above link has a great replay function so you can see when there are heavy traffic and or just not moving at all. So it makes it easier to plan ahead if it is possible. road work
In the winter months Road temperature
These are always good to check in the office before leaving.
And then there is the webcams from the roads which I guess has no useful purposes for the average websurfer.
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Actually, it was developed by Atanasoff as a professor in the Physics and Mathematics departments. Ames Lab was more concerned with developing metals and refining plutonium for the Manhattan Project (which happened to cause a nice explosion which blew out a wall in one of the buildings on campus while they were playing with magnesium).
Iowa is a good place to raise a family, but that's about it. Only 1 in 4 Iowa State students will stay in Iowa after they graduate. The majority of people that live in Iowa are either farmers, old, or have been there all their lives and never went beyond high school. It's pretty sad when I get off the plane from DC and look around at the people at the airport - all old people.
BTW, I also happen to live right near the DOT in Ames. I was surprised to see a story featuring Ames/Des Moines of all places.
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