Abstract
Abstract A numerical model designed to simulate the evolution of a snow layer on a road surface was forced by meteorological forecasts so as to assess its potential for use within an operational suite for road management in winter. The suite is intended for use throughout France, even in areas where no observations of surface conditions are available. It relies on short-term meteorological forecasts and long-term simulations of surface conditions using spatialized meteorological data to provide the initial conditions. The prediction of road surface conditions (road surface temperature and presence of snow on the road) was tested at an experimental site using data from a comprehensive experimental field campaign. The results were satisfactory, with detection of the majority of snow and negative road surface temperature events. The model was then extended to all of France with an 8-km grid resolution, using forcing data from a real-time meteorological analysis system. Many events with snow on the roads were simulated for the 2004/05 winter. Results for road surface temperature were checked against road station data from several highways, and results for the presence of snow on the road were checked against measurements from the Météo-France weather station network.
Highlights
A winter road maintenance strategy depends on a number of factors, including climatic and demographic conditions as well as the road network density and traffic
The prediction system described in this paper focuses on one type of winter road condition, the presence of snow on the road, and takes into account the thermal fluxes during snow deposition and the snow– road interface properties
The first section of this paper is a brief description of the Interactions between Soil, Biosphere, and Atmosphere (ISBA)-Route/‘‘Crocus’’ coupled model used in this study
Summary
A winter road maintenance strategy depends on a number of factors, including climatic and demographic conditions as well as the road network density and traffic. In the specific context of bridges, Knollhoff et al (2003) and Greenfield and Takle (2006) have developed a predictive model that calculates frost/ snow depth and determines several types of surface states, based on the computation of surface fluxes They consider the latent heat process resulting from phase changes of water on the top of the bridge, taking into account the vapor flux that plays an important role during frost formation on the surface (Jansson et al 2006). The first section of this paper is a brief description of the Interactions between Soil, Biosphere, and Atmosphere (ISBA)-Route/‘‘Crocus’’ coupled model used in this study This model and its validation on the Col de Porte experimental site using observed meteorological variables near the surface were presented in detail in a recent paper (Bouilloud and Martin 2006). The very cold winter made it possible to assess both surface temperatures and occurrence of snow on the road under conditions as close as possible to future operational conditions
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