Clarus Initiative: Coordination with USDOT VII Initiative Paul Pisano, FHWA Road Weather Management Program James Pol, USDOT ITS Joint Program Office NCAR VII Expert Panel Meeting February 22, 2006

2 Agenda Context of VII within Clarus Initiative –Motivations for Clarus Initiative –A General Model for Applying Clarus –Clarus – Primary Data Sources –VII Impact on Overcoming Gaps –VII Impact on Decision Making Coordination between Clarus and VII –Overview on VII Program Activities –VII Use Case Development –Purpose of Use Cases –Use Case Development Schedule –Weather/Clarus-involved Use Cases

3 Motivations for Clarus Initiative Assimilate surface transportation environmental observations on a national level so that state and local transportation agencies can be more productive in maintaining safety and mobility. Support real-time operational responses to weather events and weather impacts. Enhance and extend the existing weather data sources that support general purpose weather forecasting for the protection of life and property. Integrate surface transportation environmental observations to support the enhancement and creation of models that make better predictions in the planetary boundary layer.

4 A General Model that Applies to the Clarus Initiative Forecast Models Forecast Models Observing Systems Observing Systems Predictions Observations Decision Support Systems and Assessments Policy Decisions Management Decisions Societal Benefits Data On-going feedback to optimize value and reduce gaps

5 Clarus – Primary Data Sources Fixed roadside stations Vehicles NWS surface observations State DOT Road Weather Information System Stations 45 o F 44 o F 43 o F 45 o F 44 o F 38 o F Vehicles as weather and road condition probes Roadside Sensors

6 VII Impact on Overcoming Gaps Fundamental deficiencies today –Incomplete picture of road weather conditions: Spatially Temporally At sufficient level of detail which impedes effective decision making –Lack of ability to predict surface level weather and road conditions VII opens the opportunity for empirical data gathering not possible otherwise

7 VII Impact on Decision Making VII enables enhanced response and planning through improvements to weather and road condition observations, models, and predictions –Microscale events for immediate response (e.g., black ice, fog banks) conveyed in seconds to minutes –Mesoscale events for tactical response (e.g., thunderstorms, flash floods) forecast in minutes to hours –Synoptic scale events for strategic response (e.g. blizzards, floods, heat) forecast in hours to days

8 Agenda Context of VII within Clarus Initiative –Motivations for Clarus Initiative –A General Model for Applying Clarus –Clarus – Primary Data Sources –VII Impact on Overcoming Gaps –VII Impact on Decision Making Coordination between Clarus and VII –Overview on VII Program Activities –VII Use Case Development –Purpose of Use Cases –Use Case Development Schedule –Weather/Clarus-involved Use Cases

9 Overview on VII Program Activities VII Architecture Development Support –Booz-Allen-Hamilton Team –Define VII Architecture and Development Test Environment for VII Proof of Concept Testing –Coordination with VII-C and VII Working Group Tentative Timeframe –Use Case Definition and Validation  April 2006 –Application Design and Development  December 2006 –VII RSE, OBE, and Network Development  September 2006 –Subsystem Integration and Testing  January 2007 –Application Integration and Testing  May 2007

10 VII Use Case Development Use-cases will help define requirements for development and test environment (DTE), but also will help refine overall system requirements for nationwide deployment. The focus of Use-Case descriptions is NOT to decide on, or define, long term stakeholder relationships (or government/industry structure) for executing the use-case— but rather on technical and systems requirements.

11 Purpose of Use Cases Use case descriptions will be viewed collectively to: –Refine functional requirements for OBE, RSE, and Network, –Allocate and refine software development needs for supporting applications (e.g., probemessages, mapping information; other infrastructure based data management needs), and –help define more detailed program plans for “standing up” each of the applications: Stakeholder responsibilities, Schedules, including key milestones, Identify Resource requirements (equipment, expertise, fabrication needs etc. that may need to be gathered from outside current set of stakeholders).

12 Use Case Development Schedule Develop Draft Use Case Descriptions: –Draft use cases (including use case and sequence diagrams) for all the POC use cases developed by 3/03/2006. Use Case Review by VII Working Group Members and Subject Matter Experts –Each use case will be reviewed by the members of the VII working group as well as subject matter experts (i.e., state/local DOTs, traffic engineers, e-Commerce experts). This will be completed by 3/31/2006. Revisions will the be made to the use case descriptions. Finalize Use Cases –Complete, uniform, and agreed-upon use cases descriptions and diagrams for all use cases will be developed by 4/07/2006. Document Use Cases In Approved Template and Rational Rose UML –A complete POC Use Case Document will be developed by 4/07/2006.

13 Roadway Environmental Condition Information: Improved Wx Observing and Forecasting with Clarus Purpose: –Establish vehicles as data probes –Manage the data from the vehicles via a translating mechanism and with Clarus –Enable ISPs, Clarus customers, and weather research community access to managed observations –Enable NOAA capacity for improved traveler notification of weather conditions Involved Parties: Vehicle, Clarus, Weather Observation and Event Translator (WOET), Transportation Operations Center (TOC), Information Service Provider Description: WOET transforms Vehile data into observations that are managed through Clarus. TOCs, ISPs and other Clarus subscribers gain access to the probe data. Use Case #1

14 Winter Maintenance Purpose: –Obtain information on state of road and rail surface –Process data applying a Maintenance Decision Support System –Provide more accurate predictions of pavement and rail conditions Involved Parties: Vehicle, Clarus, Maintenance Vehicle, Maintenance Management System (MMS), Weather Observation and Event Translator (WOET), Transportation Operations Center (TOC) Description: WOET transforms Vehile data into observations that are managed through Clarus. MMS gathers data from Clarus, NOAA, ISPs and from Maintenance Vehicles. TOC issues data back to vehicles. Use Case #2

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17 Traffic Management: Pothole Maintenance Purpose: –Obtain information probes on state of road surface –Process data through system that assesses potential pothole and road roughness –Recommend road locations needing maintenance Involved Parties: Vehicle, Maintenance Vehicle, ISP, Maintenance Management System (MMS) Description: Vehicles and Maintenance Vehicles will send data to MMS, which processes to determine locations needing attention. Results are sent to Maintenance Vehicles and other maintenance managers. Use Case #3

18 Roadway Environmental Condition Information: Traveler Notification with Clarus Purpose: –Provide the national Clarus system and localized Transportation Operations Centers with indications of road surface conditions based on sensor readings received from vehicles Involved Parties: Vehicle, Clarus, NOAA, ISP, Highway Advisory Radio, Dynamic Message Signs, Surface Condition Equipment, WOET Description: Vehicle probe data are transformed via WOET, then conveyed to Clarus. Clarus subscribers will convey data via traveler information assets such as 511, HAR, DMS, web. Use Case #4

19 Roadway Environmental Condition Information: Traveler Notification without Clarus Purpose: –Provide vehicle data to TOCs and ISPs for conversion to meaningful observations Involved Parties: Vehicle, NOAA, ISP, Highway Advisory Radio, Dynamic Message Signs, Surface Condition Equipment Description: TOCs and ISPs subscribe to probe data providers directly. In turn they will convey information via traveler information assets such as 511, HAR, DMS, web. Use Case #5

20 Next Steps Convene Use Case Review Task Force within Clarus ICC –Notification for self-selection  March 3 –Kickoff Conference Call  March 9 –Review Comments Due  March 23 –Review Comments Conference Call  March 28