Nationwide Surface Transportation Weather Observing System

1
Clarus Quality Checking Task Force Meeting
Review
Clarus ICC Meeting 4 Falls Church, VA Tuesday,
8 August, 2006 Andy Stern Consulting
Meteorologist QCh Task Force Manager
FHWA Road Weather Management
2
A Task Force is

• short-lived
• one meeting
• document review
• subset of the ICC community
• multidisciplinary expertise
• academic practitioner
• weather transportation
• public and private sector
• narrow focus on an issue relevant to the
  initiative

3
The Need for a Task Force

• became evident during the requirements
  definition portion of the Clarus initiative
• A breakout session was dedicated to Quality
  Checking _at_ ICC meeting 3
• Proof of Concept QCh capabilities were
  established with the premise that this task force
  would provide guidance for future phases of the
  initiative (e.g., regional demonstration)

4
Task Force Objectives

• Review the QCh algorithms that have been included
  in
• Clarus Detailed Requirements Document
• Proof of Concept (PoC) Demonstration
• Consider QCh techniques included in other
  operational mesonets
• Look over the horizon toward use of new or
  complementary technologies
• Review requirements for QCh summary formats

5
Diverse Membership
Environment Canada
Univ of Utah
Utah DOT
NOAA ESRL
Meridian
Iowa DOT
NOAA NWS
Alaska DOTPF
USDOT
SSI
Vaisala
NCAR
Mixon Hill
OCS
Meeting 5/31-6/1 2006 NCAR, Boulder, CO
DART
6
Proof of Concept Capabilities

• Manually Change QCh Flag
• Sensor Range Test
• Climate Test
• Barnes Spatial Test
• Step Test
• Persistence Test
• Like Instrument Test
• Dew Point Temperature Test
• Sea Level Pressure Test

7
Additional QCh Algorithms

• Based on Detailed Requirements Doc
• Optimal Interpolation Spatial Test
• Potential Temperature Test
• Theoretical Solar Radiation Test
• Precipitation Amount Test
• Wind Direction Test
• Soil Moisture Change Test
• Soil Moisture Freeze Test

8
Task Force Deliverables

• Meeting Summary (available)
• Presentations (available)
• QCh Recommendations Report (to be created and
  delivered by NCAR late Fall 06)

9
Discussed Topics (1 of 3)

• Overview of QCh algorithms already in use for
  surface weather surface transportation
• Review current state of the practice of algorithm
  usage
• Detail the algorithms that have been implemented
  within the Clarus Proof of Concept prototype

10
Discussed Topics (2 of 3)

• Identifying and discussing gaps in the current
  state of the practice
• New algorithms for pavement and subsurface
  temperatures (Canadian RWIN)
• Supplemental algorithms from Clarus requirements
  (but are not in the PoC)
• Complementary data sets that may improve QCh
  algorithms

11
Discussed Topics (3 of 3)

• Perspectives on QCh summaries
• What do users want or need how often?
• What formats are most effective?

Kevin Petty (NCAR) will now continue with a more
science-based discussion recommendations.