Remote Powered Mobile Weather Information Systems in Arctic Region (Grant Overview)
Remote Powered Mobile Weather Information Systems in Arctic Region (Grant Overview)
Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Stage 1 Planning Grant:
- Total Project: $1,836,853
- State Match: N/A
- Federal Request: $1,836,853
The “Remote-Powered Road Weather Information Systems in Arctic Region” project will determine the optimal solution for transmitting data from Mobile RWIS in rural areas, considering reliability, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness. This project will evaluate the steps necessary to equip much of the state fleet of vehicles with mobile road weather devices. Stage 1 will fund 20 RWIS devices. Potential stations (listed right) are Fairbanks, Nenana, Healy, Birch Lake, Montana Creek, and Nome.
The outfitting of a portion of the state fleet would provide a significant amount of real-time data that would then be ingested into DOT&PF’s existing enhanced Maintenance Decision Support System (eMDSS) to provide forecasts and recommendations for winter maintenance treatments.
Stage 1 will explore the most efficient and effective method for uploading the data from areas where cellular communications are not available. This will include research into solutions such as satellite communications from vehicles and data collection stations at DOT&PF’s maintenance sheds along the highway system that could remotely gather the data as vehicles pass by. Based on the findings from Stage 1, the Alaska regions that would be appropriate for and benefit from this service will be identified, as well as the steps necessary to outfit all of the State of Alaska vehicles in an identified region with Mobile RWIS sensors, including those of the Alaska State Troopers and other State of Alaska agencies, and transmit the collected data to DOT&PF.
Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grant Program
SMART Grants Program will fund projects that focus on using technology to solve real-world challenges facing communities today. This will require creativity and local experimentation. The SMART Program will support a range of approaches: new transportation applications of existing and emerging technologies; expanded and systematized use of proven technologies; and deep integration of solutions with existing transportation systems.
SMART is divided into two stages. Stage 1 focuses on planning, protoyping, and teambuilding as critical componenets to data collection and technology projects. USDOT anticipates that only recipients of Stage 1
Planning and Prototyping Grants will be eligible for Stage 2 Implementation Grants. Stage 2 implementation projects are a scaled-up version of the Stage 1 concept. Stage 2 is focused on refining the concept for duplication and identifying any critical challenges or negative impacts.
