TimeStep Thermal Maps

For the winter service highway engineer, Thermal Mapping is an integral part of the Ice Prediction System. By understanding the pattern of minimum road surface temperatures across the entire network, we can better identify IF ice is likely to form, WHEN it is likely to form and WHERE it is likely to form.  By having the answers to these three questions, the engineer is better equipped to ensure safer winter highways.

On a typical Winter’s night, the difference in minimum road surface temperatures across a network, may vary by up to 10°C / 18°F.  Vaisala Forecast Thermal Maps have now been used for more than 15 years to identify this temperature variation as a colour-coded network. Instantly, the winter service engineer is able to identify those sections of the network that are forecast to reach minimum temperatures close to or below freezing. 

For the winter maintenance industry ‘knowledge means safety’ and two Thermal Mapping features TimeStep and Real Time Thermal Map offer better forecasting of a road’s condition for decision makers.  The latest TimeStep Thermal Map software is a new addition to the IceCast Suite, and is designed to further enhance the use of Thermal Map data.

The TimeStep Thermal Map offers an hour-by-hour representation, from 10PM to 8AM of the Forecast Thermal Map, and identifies expected changing temperature patterns of a road.  TimeStep expands on traditional Thermal Maps to display at what time individual roads will reach a critical state. TimeStep enables the user to step through the forecast for the forthcoming night and to observe the development of the highway surface temperature profile map across the entire network, climatic domain, and salting route.

The individual TimeStep Thermal Maps clearly identify the forecast rate at which sections of the network are expected to experience falling temperatures, and at what time they are likely to fall below freezing. By knowing which sections of the network are forecast to freeze first, the opportunity arises to further optimize treatment schedules.  Winter service engineers now have the knowledge as to where and when freezing will occur first, and those highways forecast to become dangerous to users may be treated as a priority.

The Real Time Thermal Map is an up-to-the-minute, 'real time' mapping of road temperature information from 10PM to 8AM.  Complementing the Forecast element of TimeStep Thermal Map, updated Real Time Thermal Maps displayed observational data as it is received into the IceCast system.

Given a situation where the forecast and observed data deviate from one another, Real Time Thermal Maps allows the Decision-Maker to easily identify those areas of the network that may require treatment ahead of the original schedule.  Real Time Thermal Maps may also be used for retrospective analysis of the season’s forecast and treatment procedures.

An up-to-date and comprehensive Thermal Map database will ensure that the maximum benefit is realized from TimeStep Thermal Map.

A TimeStep Thermal Map at various stages throughout a winters night. The variance of colour shows changes in temperature at different stages through the evening, thus indicating IF, WHEN & WHERE ice is likely to form.