Weather Information for Surface Transportation (WIST) A GIS Based Approach for the Transportation Decision Maker Hank Pomeranz Litton PRC Inc

Overview Why GeoWeather™ Solutions? Some of the issues from last years discussion panels Our approach to the problem. A little about GeoWeather functionality Applicability Summary

National Weather Service Modernization GIS Industry growth over last decade is in same key NWS industrial areas representing 20% of the gross national product.

A Review of Last Years Panel Sessions Departments of Commerce and Defense Weather Services and Capabilities for Surface Transportation Decision Support –Environmental Decision thresholds being adequately met? –Coordination..to create capability and technology transfer leverages. –Clientele defined “thresholds”…Temperature, hydrometeors, wind direction-speed, severe weather events, black ice accretion, visibility reductions Commercial Weather Information Production Capabilities and Services –Integrating the “non-weather” systems into “information” Federal Agency Weather Information Needs –Right forecast or observation at the critical moment in the decision process –Specific Environmental thresholds –Finer Resolution

A Review of Last Years Panel Sessions State and Urban/Rural Transit Weather Information Needs –Customer defined decision thresholds –Rapid refreshment is critical –Concerns rising over the ownership of the data and violating proprietary ownership. Research/Technology Innovation and Decision Support –“…new technologies, heretofore unrelated to surface transportation…can be applied to solve some of the problems associated with surface transportation…”

GeoWeather™ Solutions The GeoWeather Partnerships –Litton PRC - Intergraph TeamLitton PRC Intergraph –Litton PRC – providing the innovative methods of the $4.5B National Weather Service Modernization Program –Intergraph – providing state of the art GIS software –Weather information fused with your GIS data Complete life-cycle weather data management A complete turnkey solution for decision makers Mitigate the adverse impact of weather while minimizing your costs Intergraph provides the GIS technology and professional services and Litton PRC provides the environmental technology and professional services to decision makers.

A Different Approach – Proprietary data? DATA versus Products –Customer can buy a receiver and download all the data. –Data is free for local or shared use with NOAAPort Receive System investment. –Products can be made locally and shared. It may not be necessary to buy data and worry about proprietary issues. The National Weather Service SBN

GeoWeather TM Solutions GIS Data Sources Customer provided GIS database GeoWeather handles most commercial GIS databases. Remember this bridge

How GeoWeather Works Event/Criteria/Action Provides local control over what to monitor and how to react in your Area of Interest Events are weather conditions which have an impact on your operations –Lightning strike, high winds, temperatures, etc. –Criteria are qualifiers used to evaluate events –Measurements above or below a specified threshold –below freezing, above 65 knots, etc. –Actions are responses taken when defined events and criteria occur –Highlighting map areas affected –Displaying inventories – , Page, FAX, Print, Network Pop-up, Create Image

Specifying Areas of Interest The whole state Buffer around Interstates Any AOI

Specifying an Area of Interest Area of Interest

Nowcasting Event - Criteria - Action Environmental Inputs Weather overlay on assets map GIS NEXRAD Doppler Radar Surface Observations Lightning Observations 12

Forecasting Event - Criteria - Action Analysis 12 hour 24 hour time lat lon GIS/WX MonTueWedThuFri 2AM 12AM 4AM 6AM 8AM 10AM 12PM 2PM 4PM 6PM 8PM 10PM WX GIS Action

Actions Actions are responses taken when defined events and criteria occur –Highlighting map areas affected –Displaying inventories and creating a report – , Page, FAX, Print, Network Pop-up, –Create Image –Kick-off additional applications

Transportation lRoads and rails are critical assets lLocal, state and federal department of transportation (DOT) agencies must keep roads clear for daily and emergency traffic. lGeoWeather Solutions can determine where u Identify roads likely to be affected u Warn of the need to check salt or sand inventories u Define areas to deploy snow ploughs or other vehicles u Help plan road closings or detours u Automatically notify work crews u Fax warnings to other agencies and the public GeoWeather Solutions - makes weather information available to DOTs to plan and predict how severe weather affects transportation resources

Federal lU.S. government agencies have extensive assets and critical missions that make weather data essential to decision makers. lFederal agencies have a vested interest in tracking severe weather they include; u Department of Energy u Defense u Army Corps of Engineers u Federal Aviation Administration u FEMA lGeoWeather will migrate for use in u Hydrology u Nuclear, chemical or biological (NBC) GeoWeather helps the government plan and protect critical assets with up-to-the minute weather data.

GeoWeather™ Solutions Summary Real-time environmental data fused with GIS lGeoWeather Solutions applies real-time environmental information into a GIS environment helping customers with mission critical activities. u Planning u Asset management u Dispatch u Routing u Daily Operations lGeoWeather Solutions can be help customers mitigate the adverse impact of weather while minimizing their costs. lGeoWeather Solutions includes all the tools to help customers get up-and-running right away. GeoWeather Solutions analyzes real-time weather information and will help customers assess the impact on their assets and initiate automated responses.