Meridian Environmental Technology, Inc.
Providing Tomorrow s Technology Today Meridian is committed to the support of its clients through advancement of science and technology A National Leader in Road Weather Research Atmospheric Science Research and Development Mesoscale ensemble weather prediction modeling Improved understanding of near-surface physics Robust Applications Research and Development On-going ATIS & road weather applications development Better use of human factors in road weather applications
Solid Science and Operations Foundation MPower weather forecast system Ensemble-based Expert Meteorologists 24/7/365 Weather Forecast Operations Center HiCAPS pavement forecast system Comprehensive Mass / Energy balance model High-resolution mesoscale weather prediction modeling systems REBS roadway environment blowing snow prediction system
A Road Weather Commitment Industry Leading Expertise in Road Weather Technologies Solid staff experienced in Road Weather operations weather/computer science/social science research customer-specific applications Most hold advanced degrees Many have Road Weather education background All have a clear understanding of MDSS technologies and solutions
The Meridian Focus on Total Road Weather Solutions Meridian Maintenance Decision Support System Based upon a collaboration with the Pooled Fund Study MDSS states #SAFE 511 Advanced Traveler Information Systems and Services Nation s premier en-route road and weather information system IRIS Integrated Road Condition and Incident Reporting System
Providing Tomorrow s Technology Today
Meridian MDSS Full function MDSS integrating Past and present road conditions Past and present maintenance treatment Integrates with Road weather forecasts Dynamic approach to maintaining LOS according to the local resources, practices and policies Customizable, adaptable treatment strategy solution in addition to providing best practices Driving Passing
Freeze Point Temp Pavement Temp Dew Point Pavement Condition Ice Depth Snow Depth Maintenance Actions % Ice Developed in collaboration with the States within the Pooled Fund Study MDSS Program
Major MDSS Feature Enhancements
Enhanced Storm Archival System Purpose: To permit agency users to perform post-storm reviews and to conduct case studies Function: All data are kept automatically for 3 days as part of a running data window MDSS users may request a long-term storage on the Meridian file storage system beyond the running window. Support for 4-6 complete storms. Includes all MDSS data, weather conditions, and forecasts as they existed during the storm including MDC and treatment actions.
Enhanced MDSS Event Playback Purpose: Permits MDSS users to review all maintenance and weather events associated with a past storm to support case studies, training, etc. Function: Integrated with MDSS Storm Archival capability Interacts with current running window data storage or long-term storm data storage files Provides full client-server functionality as though the storm is live Permits enhanced post-storm and training benefits of MDSS
Winter Maintenance Response Index (WMRI) Purpose Supports agency exploration of the long-term (seasonal to decadal) impacts of new policies and / or procedures on safety / mobility and agency budgets. Function: Uses MDSS simulation capabilities to generate maintenance actions tuned to actual maintenance actions Mechanism to tune treatment recommendations to individual routes Allows users to visually see what routes MDSS analyzed as needing more maintenance. Users can generate maintenance summaries & MDC/AVL reports of a requested time span.
Enhanced Map Navigation Purpose: Mimics popular web-based mapping tools Function: Allows new users to more quickly grasp methods to pan and zoom map windows
Enhanced GUI Treatment Icon Purpose: Treatment/plow icons change colors depending on a performed treatment or a proposed treatment. Function: Permits greater user awareness as to whether the GUI is indicating a recommended vs. performed action Of particular benefit when icons are close to the current time
Maintenance (Mobile) Data Collection (MDC) Management System Purpose: Provide an effective set of tools and algorithms to interpret, apply and manage within MDSS the data collected from third party MDC devices/ system Function: Apply truck / route configuration rules to better determine when MDC data are applicable to a given route action Uses MDSS to Enhances the management of data from third party MDC/AVL systems
Coming New MDSS Features
Efforts In The Works... Develop improved pavement precipitation estimation system Enhancement to expand support off-season training Improve integration with existing agency information systems MMS, RCRS, ATIS (511), etc. Expand non-winter maintenance applications Extension to support traffic management operations
Providing Tomorrow s Technology today!