XRWIS: the use of geomatics to predict winter road surface temperatures in Poland

Abstract

A new method (XRWIS) to predict the minimum road surface temperature for the winter maintenance of roads, using geomatics, has been tested in Poland. A geographical database was constructed for a 200 km test route from Krakow to the Slovakian border. A GPS survey to measure sky-view factor was carried out as part of the COST 719 project. A computer energy balance model ‘IceMiser’ was run retrospectively to predict road surface temperature every 20 minutes for every 20 m along the road using hourly weather data recorded at two adjacent climate stations: at low elevation in Krakow and at high elevation in Zakopane, in March 2003. A GIS was used to visualise the predicted road surface temperatures. The IceMiser model was verified by comparing the predicted road surface temperatures with measured road surface temperatures at a number of road weather outstations along the route. The results for four road weather outstations are discussed. The best results are for Libertow (264 m) and Myslenice (304 m) close to Krakow, whereas the results for Skawa (518 m) and Piatkowa Gora (649 m) at high elevation are not as good, probably due to their distance from the Zakopane climate station.