Maintenance Decision Support
System (MDSS)
The FHWA Road Weather Management Program for
Decision Support
To the Second MDSS Prototype Review
Hanover, NH June 21, 2001
Gary G. Nelson
Mitretek Systems Inc.
gnelson@mitretek.org
202 488 5718
Contents
Mit
re
tek
Ro
le
Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA)
Road Weather Management Program
2
Surface Transportation Weather
Decision Support Requirements
(STWDSR) project
Maintenance Decision
Support System
(MDSS) project
FHWA/Mitretek
Mitretek Role
•Mitretek Systems, Inc.,
is a non-profit,
non-competitive, government services
corporation
 Created from Mitre in 1996 to serve
non-FFRDC* work.
* Federally Funded Research and
Development Corporation
•Mitre/Mitretek has supported the FHWA
Intelligent Transportation System (ITS)
program since inception:
 Research, program development,
procurement support.
3
FHWA/Mitretek
Federal Road Weather Programs
Other USDOT
Agencies
FAA, FTA, FRA,
RSPA, USCG
Federal Highway
Administration
FHWA
FHWA
American
Association of
State Highway and
Transportation
Officials
AASHTO
Public and Fire
Weather and other
NWS offices
Jeff Paniatti
Operations Core
Business Unit
ITS-JPO
Christine Johnson
National Weather
Service
NWS
ITS Joint Program
Office
HOP
Office of the
Federal
Coordinator for
Meteorology
Sam Williamson
OFCM
Highway Research
Office of Transportation
Operations
Shelley Row
Gary Larsen
HRD
HOTO
Road Weather
Management Program
Highway Research-Operations
Stakeholders:
Paul Pisano
Rudy Persaud
State DOTs
HOTO
HRDO
Private Vendors
Road Weather Program
National Labs
4
FHWA/Mitretek
Road Weather Management Program Goals
1. Develop improved weather information
systems that meet the demands of all users
and operators;
2. Develop improved maintenance
technologies for winter mobility, and;
3. Develop traffic operations/incident
management procedures under all weather
events.
5
FHWA/Mitretek
Road Weather Management Program Objectives
a. Build relations between meteorologists
and transportation professionals…to create
a common vision and support state efforts;
b. Improved decision support systems...;
c. Advanced maintenance technologies…;
d. Road weather management practices for
traffic and incident managers…;
e. Develop outreach materials...
6
FHWA/Mitretek
Scope of Road Weather Management Program
Improve Interfaces to
Meteorological
Road Weather
Information Systems
(RWIS)
Environmental
Sensor
Stations (ESS)
The ITS
Services
Improve
Highway
Operations
to meet
Goals
Define Weather
Threats
Improve
Transportation
Impact
(Goals)
Promote and Develop
Information Systems
to Support
Highway Operations
(with respect to weather threats)
7
FHWA/Mitretek
Road Weather Management Program Progress
Prior FHWA
research in RWIS
Surface Transportation Weather
Decision Support Requirements
(STWDSR) Project
FHWA Weather
Team Formed
from Rural ITS
FHWA Operations
Unit formed
1970-1997
1997
First Road
Weather
Symposium
1998
1999
First OFCM
WIST
Symposium
Foretell
Project launched
8
STWDSR
Meetings
1 and 2
2000
MDSS
Reviews
1, 2 and 3
2001
2002
Second OFCM
WIST
Symposium
MDSS Project
Launched
FHWA/Mitretek
STWDSR Scope
Goals
Decision
Support
System
(WIST-DSS)
The Intelligent
Transportation
System (ITS)
9
System Input
Requirements
Safety
Computer-Human
Interface (CHI)
Needs (decisions)
Operational
Techniques
(Output)
The
Decision
Maker
Mobility
Productivity
Environment
National Security
Outcomes/Goals
The
Highway
State of Deployed Resources
System
State of the Highway System
+
Weather
Environmental Conditions
FHWA/Mitretek
Major STWDSR Documents
FHWA Weather
Team White
Paper
STWDSR V3.0/V4.0
TM/EM/Traveler Needs
1997-98
Impacts/Benefits
Operational Test Requirements
STWDSR
V1.0 Needs
1999
Stakeholder
Meetings
STWDSR V2.0 Operational
Concept Definition (OCD)
Feb, May 2000
July, 2000
MDSS
STWDSR V2.0 Preliminary
Interfaces Requirements (PIR)
October, 2000
10
FHWA/Mitretek
STWDSR Documentation
• Electronic Documents Library
www.its.dot.gov/welcome.htm
• White Paper (1998)
• STWDSR V1.0
• STWDSR V2.0: Operational Concept Definition (OCD)
• STWDSR V2.0 Preliminary Interface Requirements (PIR)
• STWDSR V2.0 Executive Summary
• Contact: gnelson@mitretek.org
11
FHWA/Mitretek
STWDSR Needs
Operational Scale
Winter Road Maintenance
STWDSR V1.0
53 Decisions
Needs Matrix
44 User Groups
Scales
Warning Operational Planning
10 decisions
6
2
4
o
i
s
i
c
e
d
ns
Stakeholder
Meetings:
Value Added Met.
Services (VAMS)
Maintenance Managers
(28 states)
National Labs (6)
16
Clusters
by Time
Lead
STWDSR V2.0
12
FHWA/Mitretek
STWDSR Operational Concept
Co
llab
o
(Filtering, Fusion, Presentation)
rat
ive
Tailored Decision Support
Applications
Ri s
kD
eci
sio
ns
Learning Feedback
Needs
(Risk
Decisions)
Needs
Risk
(Decisions)
Needs
Highway
Performance
Goals
(Risk
Decisions)
External Information Resources
Transportation, Environmental, Treatment Assets
13
FHWA/Mitretek
Open System Concept
A display
Swivelchair
integration!!!
Open System
Decision
Support
Application
Other ITS info
A display
Treatment
Action!
EIA*
A display
EIA*
System
Evolution
Some Road
Weather
Processes
EIA*
Collection &
Assimilation
EIA*
Some Environmental
Sensor Station (ESS)
Observations
Roadway
Environment
Many
Observations
A Road Weather
Information System
(RWIS)
Stovepipe
14
*Environmental
Information
Application
Air/Sea
Environment
FHWA/Mitretek
The Scale Concept
Scales
Time Horizon
Functions
Corresponding
Weather Scale
Winter RoadMaintenance
Example
Planning
months +
Provides resources.
Climatic
Buying equipment or chemical
stocks; Hiring and training
staff.
Operational
hours to days
Manages the
deployment of
resources.
Synoptic/meso
Calling up crews, readying
vehicles, dispatching treatment
beats.
Warning
sub-seconds to
minutes
Operates the
resources.
Micro
Operating a treatment vehicle
(snow plow and spreader);
Control of automatic
equipment.
15
FHWA/Mitretek
Needs (Decision) Clusters
Cluster ID, Nam e
Confidence
%
2.A M onitor Conditions
Aware
Detect
2.B Prepare
2.C Get Ready
2.D Prepare E xpendables
2.E Select Strategy
2.F Assign Crews
2.G Prepare E quipm ent
2.H Activate Staff
2.I Initial Dispatching
2.J Contracting
2.K Prim ary Dispatching
2.L Rem edial Dispatching
2.M M id-Storm M anagem ent
2.N Discretionary Dispatching
2.O Term ination
2.P Cleanup
16
46
95
40
72
56
70
60
75
73
77
85
96
Tim e Lead
hrs.
29.0
49.0
3.8
41.0
16.0
14.0
12.0
33.0
14.0
15.0
9.0
2.0
0.0
FHWA/Mitretek
Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) Project
• The MDSS is one realization of the STWDSR
Operational Concept Definition (OCD)
–For a set of functions and operational-scale
decisions of winter road managers
• Continues STWDSR stakeholder alliance
– National Labs will develop non-exclusive
components
– State DOTs will operate
– Vendors will provide and integrate into Road
Weather Information System (RWIS)
17
FHWA/Mitretek
MDSS Documentation
• FHWA Road Weather Management Website
www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/weather/mdss.pdf
• MDSS Project Plan
•...with Labs’ contacts
18
FHWA/Mitretek
Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) Project
Federal Highway
HighwaysAdministration
Administration(FHWA)
(FHWA)
Office of Transportation Operation (HOTO)
Mitretek Systems
Gary Nelson
AOTR: Rudy Persaud, HRDO-04
Paul Pisano
PaulPisano,
HOTO-1
Rudy Persaud
Single Contract
Cold Regions Research & Engineering Lab (CRREL)
MDSS Programmatic Lead Lab
George Blaisdell (Project Mgr.)
Multiple Contracts
MIT
Lincoln Lab
Bob Hallowell
19
NOAA
National Severe
Storm Lab
National Center
for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
MDSS Technical Lead Lab
NOAA
Forecast Systems
Lab
NOAA
Environmental
Technologies
Lab
John Cortinas
Bill Mahoney (Project Mgr.)
Rich Wagoner (Oversight)
Paul Schultz
Dan Wolfe
FHWA/Mitretek
Map to WIST-DSS Components
Generate Scenario
Monitor Conditions
CRREL
D
NCAR
D
MDSS Road Weather
Forecasting System
(Environmental Threat
Fusion)
NSSL
I
FSL
H
Precipitation
Algorithms
CRREL
E
Chemical
Conc.
CRREL
F
Snow
Drift
CRREL
B
MDSS GIS
Display System
CRREL
C
MDSS Decision
Support Concepts
Video
Processing
Update Context
External Information Resources
Ensembles
Numerical
Models
20
MIT/LL
G
Road
Conditions
Present/Make Decision
Existing Environmental Transportation and
Treatment Asset Data
Observing Systems
ETL
Observing System
Assessment
* Letters refer to Appendices
of MDSS Project Plan
FHWA/Mitretek
MDSS: Benchmarks
• Prototype Phase
•
21
 First Prototype Review, January at NCAR
 Second Prototype Review, now
 Prototype demonstration (September)
Further Development Phase
 Notice of Intent (Federal Register, April)
 Next presentation
FHWA/Mitretek
Mitretek Support
• DOT representative travel funding
 Submit original receipts!!!
• Needs, OCD and PIR tracking
• Monitor progress for FHWA
• Work for recognition/support within surface
transportation community
Our job was to match expertise (National Labs)
with user needs and vendor opportunities.
From here on, this development track is up to the stakeholders.
22
FHWA/Mitretek