Development of Strategic RWIS Implementation Plans for the State of Maine

Date and Time: Tuesday, May 9, 2023: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Keck 100

 

Lead Presenter:  Simita Biswas, Graduate Research Assistant
Affiliation:  PhD Candidate, University of Alberta
Social Media Handle:  Simita

Lead Presenter Biography

Simita Biswas, Ph.D. candidate in Transportation Engineering, currently working as a graduate research assistant at the University of Alberta. She obtained the B.Sc. degree in Civil Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). She then came to the University of Alberta to complete her MSc studies. During her graduate studies, she has demonstrated research and analytical skills via working with large database, compiling information and data analysis using engineering software, preparing project reports and research papers, and presenting them at several international conferences, that will make her well-prepared for research-oriented academic career in future. She published several research papers in reputed conferences and journals. Her current research focus is winter transportation engineering and optimization of ITS facilities. 

Co-Authors

Tae J. Kwon, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Associate Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB, Canada, T6G 2W2
Email: tjkwon@ualberta.ca

Presentation Description 

This study presents an innovative RWIS planning tool designed to evaluate and optimize Maine’s RWIS network by taking into account its unique road weather characteristics and traffic demand distributions. A group of critical road weather conditions variables were identified and evaluated using geostatistical semivariogram modelling. The parameters of the combined semivariogram model were then utilized to develop kriging-based optimal RWIS location solutions. The proposed method improves upon our previously developed location-allocation model by maintaining the effect of multiple critical road weather variables. In addition, the methodology was extended to consider both weather and traffic factors, aiming to best capture the weather variability by filling the spatial gaps and maximizing traffic exposure. This study devised an optimal RWIS network expansion plan considering two distinct scenarios: (i) determining 8 best locations from 18 predetermined locations proposed by Maine DOT for annual RWIS installation; and (ii) identifying 8 and 18 all-new location solutions with the entire road network of Maine as candidate sites for RWIS placement. Lastly, a density comparison between these two scenarios was conducted, revealing that the all-new location solutions supported the validity of the locations proposed by Maine DOT. Likewise, the optimal locations of future RWIS installations were found to be uniformly distributed across the entire state. Such findings underscore the importance of locating RWIS stations in a way that fills spatial gaps thereby maximizing the overall monitoring coverage.

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