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Volpe Center Highlights - October/November 2001

Papers and Presentations

Director's Notes | Focus | Safety | Mobility | Human and Natural Environment
Economic Growth | National Security | Papers and Presentations

• In support of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) Office of Data Analysis and Information Systems, in September 2001, the Volpe Center's Economic Analysis Division completed the report, "FMCSA Safety Program Performance Measures - Compliance Review Impact Assessment Model." This report documents the methodology and results from an improved model to measure the effectiveness of the compliance review program, one of the FMCSA's key safety programs. Under the technical management of Mr. Donald Wright, the report was written by Mr. Jon Ohman, of the Division, with assistance from Mr. David Madsen of the Division, Mr. Leon Parkin of EG&G Technical Services, Inc. (a Volpe contractor), and Dr. Thomas M. Corsi of the University of Maryland.

• In September 2001, the Volpe Center Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety Research Team transmitted a four-volume report to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Office of Research and Development describing advanced signaling and control, obstruction detection, warning device, and barrier system technologies, designed to improve safety at high-speed rail grade crossings, both in the United States and internationally.

• Dr. Paul Valihura of the Environmental Engineering Division delivered the report "Benefits of a Programmatic NEPA Document" to William C. Withycombe, Regional Administrator, and Barry Brayer, Manager, Executive Resource Staff, FAA Western Pacific Region, and to Howard Nesbitt, FAA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., on August 8, 2001. The FAA and National Park Service will use this document in their decision process to successfully implement the Air Tour Management Plan Program.

• Mr. Adrian Hellman of the Railroad Systems Division attended a California Public Utilities Commission Railroad Grade Crossings Meeting during the week of August 13, 2001, in San Diego, California. Mr. Hellman presented, "School Street Four-Quadrant Gate In-Cab/At Grade Crossing: Preliminary Evaluation" at the Intelligent Transportation Systems Workshop. The School Street Grade Crossing, located in Groton, Connecticut, was the demonstration site for four-quadrant gate technology along Amtrak's Northeast High-Speed Rail Corridor. Additionally, this new technology includes an inductive loop obstruction detection subsystem that interfaces with Amtrak's in-cab signaling system. This research was funded by the FRA Office of Research and Development.

Microphones capture highway traffic noise for the FHWA's Traffic Noise Model validation study.

• From August 27 to 30, 2001, Mr. Gregg Fleming and Dr. Judith Rochat of the Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division visited The Hague, The Netherlands, to participate in the Thirtieth International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering (Internoise 2001). Mr. Fleming presented the paper "Lateral Attenuation of Aircraft Sound Levels Over an Acoustically Hard Water Surface: Logan Airport Study." Dr. Rochat presented the paper "Observations of Highway Traffic Noise Measurements Behind Barriers and Comparisons to FHWA's [Federal Highway Administration] Traffic Noise Model."

• In support of the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center's Marine Environmental Program, Mr. Michael Dyer of the Technology Applications and Deployment Division assessed onboard ballast water treatment systems used to prevent the discharge of aquatic nuisance species from oil tankers and cargo ships into coastal waters. On August 31, 2001, a final report, "Performance Tests of Alternate Ballast Water Treatment Systems," was delivered to the sponsor.

• Dr. David Jeong of the Vehicle Crashworthiness Division presented "Progress in FRA Rail Integrity Research" at the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association's 2001 Annual Conference & Exposition, held in Chicago, Illinois, in September 2001. Dr. Jeong's paper has been accepted for publication in the conference proceedings.

• Four technical papers authored by Volpe Center staff were presented at the 20th Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC) held in Daytona Beach, Florida, October 14 to 18, 2001. The conference co-sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics covered a broad range of key engineering disciplines that support transportation applications involving ground vehicles, general aviation, commercial aviation, rotorcraft, commercial space, and the military. The Volpe presenters were Dr. Thomas Seliga and Mr. Patrick Martone of the Surveillance and Sensors Division.

  Dr. Seliga presented papers in two different areas that support FAA programs. The first paper, "Potential Enhancements to the Performance of ASDE (Airport Surface Detection Equipment) Radars Derived from Multistatic Radar Principles," co-authored by Mr. Francis Coyne of the Airport Surface Division, addresses airport surveillance. The other, "Improvements in FAA Systems: Reliability Assessments of the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar," co-authored with Mr. Edwin Bates of BAE Systems, was developed in support of reliability assessments of a major weather radar system.

  Mr. Martone also presented two papers at the DASC conference. The first paper, "Helicopter In-Flight Tracking System (HITS) Test and Evaluation Project in the Gulf of Mexico," authored by Dr. Michael Geyer of the Surveillance and Sensors Division, describes the NASA-funded HITS program to provide aircraft surveillance in the Gulf of Mexico environment. The second paper, authored by Mr. Martone, is titled "Candidate Requirements for Multilateration and ADS-B (Automated Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast) Systems to Serve as Alternatives to Secondary Surveillance Radar." This paper introduces the concept of beacon multilateration surveillance, the specific HITS implementation, and some of the challenges associated with evaluating multilateration and contrasting the performance to traditional secondary surveillance radars.

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