MDSS Welcome Presentation Oct 05

							Session 4: FHWA Vision for MDSS
     and the Emerging Market

National Center for Atmospheric Research
              Boulder, CO
            October 21, 2005

       Paul Pisano, Team Leader
  Road Weather Management Program
                FHWA




                                           1
MDSS History
• Recognized lack of linkage between
  winter maintenance practices and road
  weather information
• No real push on the horizon to advance
  the state of the practice
• Surveyed states in 1999 during the
  Surface Transportation Weather Decision
  Support Requirements (STWDSR) exercise

                                     2
STWDSR Findings (1)
                       Scenarios: Response to Uncertainty

          14

          12

          10
                                                            Action
  Count




          8                                                 No Action
          6                                                 Alerted
                                                            Seek Info
          4

          2

          0
               Day-4        Day -3      Day -2     Day -1
                              Day from Storm

                                                                3
STWDSR Findings (2)
• Awareness, Monitoring, Detection




                                     4
STWDSR Findings (3)
                            Mentions of Needed Information

                     RH         1

            area affected       1

              next event            2

what happening elsewhere            2

                   temp                 3

               visual obs               3

                   track                3

        NWS discussion                      4

                   winds                        5

                 amount                             7

                     rate                                         17

     (sub)pavement temp                                                19

           start/end time                                                                       42

                            0               5           10   15        20   25   30   35   40   5    45
Premise behind MDSS
• MDSS was conceived to be the next
  generation of Road Weather Information
  Systems (RWIS)
• Designed to push up the bar for winter
  maintenance best practices for the
  entire industry
• Forces surface transportation issues to
  be highlighted by the scientific and
  operational weather industry
                                     6
Vision for MDSS (1)
• Better information provided to winter
  maintenance managers
  – more efficient use of chemicals & staff
  – more effective anti-icing strategies
  – better mobility and roadway safety
• Better weather & pavement models for
  surface transportation
• Improved understanding of weather
  information by DOTs
                                              7
Vision for MDSS (2)
• Our experience has shown that there is no
  “one size fits all solution” for MDSS
  – Must be flexible/customizable
  – Must combine weather expertise with
    transportation best practices (Manual of Practice)
  – Must have both tactical (near term) as well as
    strategic (for planning) information
  – Must provide information using graphics and
    terminology that DOTs can understand
  – Must continue to strive push up the bar


                                                  8
Recognizing the Marketplace
• We acknowledge & support the
  competitive market for MDSS services
• We recognize that the private sector
  must have an idea of the potential
  market & requirements for MDSS
• Each company can build upon its own
  strengths to contribute to the diversity
  of MDSS

                                        9
Charge for the Discussion
• Yesterday, the VAMS learned about what
  the DOTs want in a MDSS
• In the upcoming discussion, 5 VAMS will
  be given 10 minutes each to describe
  what MDSS products and services are
  available
• Following the presentations, the VAMS
  will participate in a panel discussion

                                     10
Corporate Presentations
• Corporate Presentations on MDSS
  Capabilities:
  –   Meridian Environmental Technologies, Inc
  –   Surface Systems, Inc (SSI)
  –   Meteorlogix
  –   Weather Decision Technologies, Inc
  –   Vaisala, Inc



                                            11