When a winter storm hits, time is of the essence as soon snow and ice can accumulate quickly and make for hazardous driving conditions.
To help determine where snow-clearing and deicing treatments are needed most, Iowa DOT uses high-tech systems that monitor pavement surfaces and collect weather data. But conditions can vary, even between monitored locations.
To make informed maintenance decisions even when data is unavailable, Iowa DOT led a coalition of 18 other states to investigate how still images taken by highway cameras might help.
By manually labeling more than 20,000 images depicting wintry road conditions, researchers developed computer algorithms that can accurately differentiate between precipitation types and identify visibility challenges and ground conditions that may impact safety on the road’s surface.
Learn more about this project in Iowa DOT’s new research brief, and check out other Iowa DOT research efforts on the News & Publications page.
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