Item: A New Model for Operational Winter Road Surface Conditions Forecasting in Météo-France
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Title: A New Model for Operational Winter Road Surface Conditions Forecasting in Météo-France
Proceedings: International Snow Science Workshop Grenoble – Chamonix Mont-Blanc - October 07-11, 2013
Authors:
- Ludovic Bouilloud [ Météo-France/Dprévi/GCRI, Toulouse, France ]
- Odile Coudert [ Météo-France/Dprévi/GCRI, Toulouse, France ]
- Alain Foidart [ Météo-France/Dprévi/GCRI, Toulouse, France ]
Date: 2013-10-07
Abstract: During winter, snow presence on the road might have serious consequences on road traffic and security, especially in plain areas where snow occurrence frequency is quite lower than in mountainous areas, and consequently road users and road management services are less prepared. For road weather forecasting, Météo-France use in an operational way since 2004 a specific model, ISBA-Route, a model which permit to simulate the behaviour of a road under the influence of atmospheric conditions. To improve this model and in aim to serve as a forecast tool for snow presence on road, this model was coupled with the detailed snow cover model CROCUS. The resulting ISBARoute/CROCUS model permit to describe with accuracy the behaviour of the snow deposited on the road and its characteristics (height, density, liquid water content, grain type…). The ISBA-Route model is forced by human expertised atmospheric forecast, within the PEIR (Expertised Predictions for ISBA-Route) system, to produce operational forecast of road surface : temperature, water and ice content. To improve this operational system, a pre-operationally test was done during the 2012/2013 winter using the ISBA-Route/CROCUS model to provide predictions of snow occurrence, height and type on road at the France scale. During this winter, many significant snow events with high spatial extension and important snow amount occurred in France, and it permitted to conclude that the future use of the ISBA-Route/CROCUS model will lead to significant improvement concerning snow prediction on road.
Object ID: ISSW13_paper_P4-31.pdf
Language of Article: English
Presenter(s): Unknown
Keywords: winter maintenance, snow, road surface conditions, forecasting
Page Number(s): 1321-1326
Subjects: decision making model crocus weather forecasts
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