Non-intrusive road/runway surface condition sensor (Glasgow/Findlay Irvine)
University: Professor Andrew Harvey, University of Glasgow
Collaborative Partner: Findlay Irvine Ltd., Edinburgh
Project Type: Prototype delivery (£20K Grant)
Project Duration: 24 months (start date Jan 2012)
Project Abstract
Findlay Irvine develops, manufactures and markets monitoring and control systems for the transportation and defence industry. Road and airport winter maintenance weather systems are one of its core products, consisting of atmospheric and road/runway-based sensors connected to outstations. Maintenance engineers use this information to decide if and when to spread salt or other anti-icing chemicals.
Existing road and runway sensors were designed many years ago and use limiting technologies. Fitting sensors is expensive and inconvenient, requiring cutting the road or runway surface and involving traffic management or runway closures. Customers are increasingly looking to reduce installation and maintenance/replacement costs and there is a lot of interest in remote ‘contactless’ sensors that, instead of being fitted in the road/runway surface, use optical or other techniques to determine surface temperature and condition.
An earlier feasibility study between Prof Harvey and Findlay Irvine proposed techniques whereby the road condition could be classified into various states - dry, damp, snow, black ice etc., and the depth of any water film on the surface could be determined. Spectroscopy in the near-infrared area was proposed as the measurement technique, and the measurement of the amount of residual salt could be estimated - this being made in the microwave frequency spectrum. The road/runway surface temperature also could be measured using an infrared thermometer (pyrometer) however the accuracy of such measurements with varying atmospheric and road/runway conditions must be established.
This S3C-funded project allows Findlay Irvine to use Glasgow’s expertise in physics and spectroscopy and microwave technologies to produce and evaluate prototype sensors.
S3C Project Impact
The primary application areas are road and runway winter weather monitoring systems. Currently, there is no available non-invasive sensor that can measure the quantity of salt on a road surface.
The road-weather market is worth c£3-4M pa in the UK, not including weather forecasting services. Of this, the sensor market is worth c£1.5M. Worldwide the sensor road/runway sensor market is estimated to be c£25M pa.
The ability to monitor surface conditions without having to fit sensors in the surface offers financial, logistical and environmental benefits. Cutting cable slots across motorways to fit sensors in the coldest lane, or fitting sensors in airport runways, is costly and causes major disruption. The technology would also allow sensors to be fitted where otherwise it may not be commercially viable, e.g., pedestrian areas and cycle-ways. The technology will improve traffic flow, ease congestion and improve the information used by decision makers involved in road winter maintenance, and is likely to be of interest in other areas, e.g., the rail industry for ice/frost on overhead lines and rails.
