# Presentation: 287398

## Priorities for Surface Transportation Weather Research and Development 

**Nelson Keeler**
**Director, Office of Aviation Programs**
**U.S. Department of Transportation**
**Research and Innovative Technologies Administration**
**Volpe National Transportation Systems Center**

**July 25, 2007**

## Volpe Center in the U.S. DOT Organization

**Volpe Center in the U.S. DOT Organization**

- Administrator **        Research and Innovative Technology Administration**

**U.S. Secretary of Transportation**

- Associate Administrator/ Director
**Volpe Center**

- Director  **Transportation Safety Institute**

- Associate
- Administrator** Research, Development and Technology**

- Associate Administrator/Director
** ****Bureau of Transportation Statistics**

- Associate Administrator/ Director** Intelligent Transportation Systems,**
**Joint Program Office**

**Notes:**
The Volpe Center is part of the Research and Innovative Transportation Administration or RITA, the U.S. Department of Transportation's newest agency.  RITA’s chief responsibility is to coordinate research across the DOT.  This helps ensure that the nation is getting the maximum out of its research investments by funding research that contributes directly towards the goals of the transportation system and is not unnecessarily duplicative of other research efforts. 

## Some Basic Weather Priorities

- Acknowledge Weather as a Factor for many Transportation Issues
- 	Congestion, safety, capacity, emergency response, bio-surveillance, environmental modeling, climate change
- Think Intermodally
- 	Situation displays-geospatial overlays of freight and passenger transportation networks and weather
- Develop Partnerships
- 	Innovative arrangements with UTCs, private industry, academia, state & local governments
- Leverage Technologies
- 	Doppler radar determination of weather hazards for surface transportation (pavement wetness and visibility).  Develop applications for emerging dual polarization radar

## Volpe Center Weather Activities

- Enhanced Traffic Management System
- Wake vortex research
- Analysis of weather impacts and information requirements for surface modes and aviation
- Human factors research
- Emissions modeling

**Notes:**
Volpe research and development activities in support of weather research analysis for transportation are in safety, operations, planning, analysis, and development, evaluation and deployment of weather sensors and related systems within the transportation system network.

## Weather Information and Human Factors

- Background
- Ultimate end user community must be accounted for in terms of their needs, applications and diversity
- Benefits
- Benefits of weather information depend upon its timeliness, accessibility, and interpretability for decision making
- Objectives
- Systematically define traditional and non-traditional end users and their weather information needs
- Develop a guidance document specifying user requirements for various identified applications

## Global Meteorological Data for Environmental Modeling

- Background
- DOT environmental models (noise & air quality) need a single, consistent meteorological database, global in scope, that can evolve over time
- Objective
- Identify a scalable database to support micro-level analyses and macro-level, international policy decisions
- Benefits
- Support a scientific methodology for running models
- Could later support broader level DOT programs
- RITA/Volpe role
- Supports design and development of several models (e.g., SAGE, Integrated Noise Model & FHWA Traffic Noise Model).  Work activity could later include ingestion of global meteorological data

## Objectives of Freight Weather Initiative

**Understand the impact of weather on freight movement**
**Assess how *****Clarus***** and other weather products can assist freight users**
**Identify additional unmet weather needs relevant to the freight sector **
**Lay out a roadmap and recommendations to present a first generation white paper to industry**
**Engage the freight industry with the continued development of products**

## Volpe’s Otis Weather Test Facility

**Volpe’s Otis Weather Test Facility**

**Climate appropriate for aviation weather related tests**
**Annual averages of: 37” snow, 48” total liquid precipitation, and ****16**** ****thunderstorms**
**Frequent fogs and low clouds**
**Frequent wind gusts, often exceeding 40 kt**
**Temperatures ranging typically from–10o F to +99o F **
**155 acres of flat ground and 2,600-ft2 of secured building**
**Instrumentation towers (10-to 200-ft) to accommodate testing of weather conditions along the near-ground aircraft landing corridor**
**Weather instrumentation **
**Anemometers****	****	****–  **_**Visibility Sensors **_
**Ceilometers****	****	****– **** Present Weather Sensors, **
**Raingauges****	****	****–**** **** ****Pressure Sensors, **
**Humidity Sensors****	****–  ****Thermometers**

**Notes:**
Volpe has utilized the Otis Weather Test Facility on Cape Cod for over 20 years in support of the development and testing of FAA aviation operational weather systems

## Katrina Landfall Displayed on ETMS

**Katrina Landfall Displayed on ETMS**

**Notes:**
Volpe supports the Enhanced Traffic Management System, Airspace Flow Program ability to reduce delays during severe weather conditions in U.S airspace by targeting delays to aircraft whose paths are directly affected by the severe weather. 

ETMS is a FAA operational system that is vital to the FAA in the management of efficient flow of flights through U.S. airspace.  Flow strategies to control air traffic flows are greatly affected by weather phenomena such as severe storms, turbulence, icing and winds aloft data.  Aviation traffic flow managers regularly make use of nationwide air traffic and weather information in order to design efficient, safe flows of air traffic.  Congestion resolution programs use winds aloft data and other related weather data to better estimate and alleviate traffic flow problems in the system.  

Volpe has worked with FAA and NAV CANADA to incorporate winds aloft model and other weather information into the ETMS. 

## Dual Polarization Radar

- Our research indicates that dual polarization radar may offer improvement in several areas
- Quantitative and qualitative rainfall measurements
- Hail detection and other severe storm detection
- Characterization of hydrometeor forms in clouds (e.g., light rain, moderate rain, intense rain, supercooled rain, hail, type of ice phase such as graupel, aggregates, etc.)
- In-cloud icing conditions
- Storm evolution, forecasting and nowcasting

**Notes:**
This technology is based on making radar measurements at both horizontal and vertical polarizations.  The US NEXRAD weather radar system will add dual polarization capability over the next 5-10 years.  Several companies throughout the world involved in providing or developing systems.  Applications involve any subject that is affected by weather - transportation (aviation, surface, and marine), agriculture, hydrology, personal safety, recreation, climate, etc.)

## Existing Radar Technology to Manage Safety and Congestion

**Traffic Flow Acceleration Contours**

**( - ) Values**
**Slowing Down**

**Seattle Urban Center Traffic Effect **

**( + ) Values**
**Speeding Up**

_**Wave Couplet**_
**Deceleration Followed by Acceleration**

**Tacoma**

**Current Time**

**65-MPH**

**Using NEXRAD Radar to Determine Weather Hazards Along Interstate-5 in Washington**

**Marysville**

**Seattle**

**Strongest Storm Cells**

**N**

## Summary - to Evolve and Improve the Transportation System

- Make the best use of the weather information infrastructure and services
- R&D requires efforts at all phases of the development cycle
- Define information and technology requirements in support of new applications
- Establish partnerships with public and private organizations
- Build on expertise in weather radar for trucking, railroad, marine transport, emergency service providers
- Provide leadership in problem definition and solution architectures, and innovative funding mechanisms.

## Thank you

**Ned Keeler**
**617-494-2769**
**Nelson.keeler@volpe.dot.gov**