Future-proofing road
weather systems
| Need to know
Cross Zlín’s world
of road weather
data collection
050 Traffic Technology International November/December 2019
www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
All-weather sensor
MetSense’s flagship system,
the 2DRoad is a stationary noninvasive
sensor/weather station
which offers a full multi-lane
description of road surface
conditions (up to a total of
seven), and friction, covering an
area up to 6 x 6meters with 4,096
pixel resolution. It means the
information of the scene
captured is a complete and
detailed contextual picture of
the road. The sensor works just
as well in harsh conditions such
as icy roads with snow and
slush covering the road surface,
the system also measures road
surface temperature accurately,
approximately in the center of
the scanned area.
MetSalt, offered as a 2DRoad
complement to form a weather
Since 2003 Cross Zlín has
been operating Metis,
a Road Weather
Information System (RWIS) that
collects data from all of the 650+
road weather stations (RWSs) in
the Czech Republic.
With more than half of these
RWSs installed by Cross, the
firm has considerable experience
in the road weather business
and is looking into the future
by asking questions such as
‘what would a winter road
maintenance system built
from scratch look like?’.
The answer to that question
is that it would be quite
different to what maintenance
organizations worldwide are
presently using. The popular
current modus operandi is
having a network of heavily
> The Czech Republic has
more than 650 road
weather stations across
the country and Cross
collects data from all of
them through Metis
> The data required for
effective winter road
maintenance is distinct
from other seasons
> Cross has formed a close
partnership with Swedish
manufacturer MetSense
> The 2DRoad is MetSense’s
flagship stationary noninvasive
sensor with full
multi-lane description
capabilities
> The MetRoad Mobile
sensor can be mounted
on vehicles
station (another option is
a combined air temperature,
humidity pressure, wind
speed and direction sensor), is
a unique low-power embedded
road sensor for accurate
measurements of road surface
temperature and even more
accurate detection of the
freezing point. MetSalt is
mounted in the pavement and
performs a continuous cycle of
freezing point detection. Using
its smart construction, MetSalt
provides the road surface
temperature measured at the
top part of the sensor and is
equipped with an external
temperature probe which is
normally installed in a specific
depth, but can be installed near
the surface as well. As such,
it provides a high temporal,
yet low spatial granularity.
Ready-to-go
MetRoad Mobile is a vehiclemounted
mobile laser sensor for
monitoring road surface status
and also calculating road
friction. With an integrated
data logger, MetRoad Mobile
can be easily installed on a
fleet of vehicles or spreaders
Technology Profile |
equipped traditional RWSs that
measure parameters which, by
themselves, have little direct
relevance to the specific
challenges of winter
maintenance operations.
Reliablity is key
A maintenance organization in
the winter months is interested
in a reliable measurement of,
and forecast for road surface
temperatures, the condition of
the road, its freezing point, and
friction issues. Thus, Cross
believes that the future winter
road maintenance systems
should utilize existing networks
of RWSs, however, further
system expansions should focus
on providing detailed (spatially
and temporally) measurements
of road surface temperature,
the condition of the road, the
freezing point and be capable
of interpreting this information
contextually.
To that end, Cross has
formed a close partnership with
MetSense of Sweden. MetSense
manufactures products that
can deliver on the spatial and
temporal details of the
parameters required.
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