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Volpe Center Experts Contribute to Conference on Weather

The 88th American Meteorological Society's Annual Meeting took place in New Orleans, Louisiana earlier this year. The AMS Meeting addresses topics specific to weather, climate, and the science of applying meteorological knowledge to societal concerns. The AMS Annual Meeting hosts several other meteorological conferences, and Volpe Center technical experts from Advanced Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) Technologies Division presented their papers at several meetings. Their papers are listed and summarized below:

• Atmospheric Turbulence Effects on Near-Ground Wake Vortex Demise by Mr. Hadi Wassaf, Mr. Amir Tabrizi, Mr. Frank Wang and Ms. Melanie Soares presented as part of the
  13th Conference on Aviation, Range and Aerospace Meteorology.

  The paper highlights the latest analysis results based on field measurements of wake vortex and ambience turbulence data from Houston, Texas on how atmospheric turbulence impact the decay as well as breakup of departure vortices generated near the ground. These results are to support the overall relative risk assessment of the Wake Turbulence Mitigation for Departures concept underway at the George Bush Intercontinental Houston Airport in Houston, Texas as well as advancing the understanding of weather impact on wake turbulence demise near the ground.

  This paper can be downloaded from: http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/133925.pdf

• Statistical Characteristics of the Wind Dependence of Snow and Freezing Fog Events at Several Major Airports for Improving Runway Visual Range (RVR) Performance by Dr. Thomas A. Seliga, Mr. David A. Hazen of Titan/System Resources Corporation, and Mr. Stephen Burnley of the Federal Aviation Administration, presented at the 13th Conference on Aviation, Range and Aerospace Meteorology.

  The paper highlights the effects of snowfall and high winds that force snow or ice into the protected RVR sensor head shields, affecting RVR sensor performance. Results of the study indicate that the occurrence of such effects could be reduced by orienting the sensors in directions least susceptible to effects of wind-blown snow and freezing rain.

  This paper can be downloaded from http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/134135.pdf

• Evaluation of the Two Foot-Lambert (FL) Dawn and Dusk Thresholds for Runaway Visual Range (RVR) Airport Applications by Dr. Thomas A. Seliga, Mr. David A. Hazen of Titan/System Resources Corporation, and Mr. Stephen Burnley of the Federal Aviation Administration presented as part of the 13th Conference on Aviation, Range and Aerospace Meteorology.

  This paper details the Ambient Light Sensor data that were taken from the New Generation Runway Visual Range system at the Otis Weather Test Facility on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. An analysis was conducted to probe the discontinuity in RVR values reported when the background luminance passes through the 2-ft-Lambert threshold used by the RVR system to determine nighttime conditions.

  The Volpe Center utilizes the Otis Weather Test Facility in support of Federal Aviation Administration (RVR) Program that includes testing, design, development and research into sensors and systems, focusing on weather-related phenomena.

  This paper can be downloaded from: http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/134123.pdf

• U.S. Highway Crashes in Adverse Road Weather Conditions by Mr. Michael Rossetti, Mr. Paul A. Pisano, of the Federal Highway Administration, and Ms. Lynette C. Goodwin, of Mitretek Systems, Inc., presented at the 24th Conference on International Interactive Information and Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography and Hydrology.

  This paper can be downloaded from http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/133554.pdf

• Impacts of Weather and Climate on Commercial Motor Vehicles by Mr. Michael Rosssetti and Mr. Michael Johnsen of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, presented at the 20th Conference on Climate Variability and Change.

  This paper can be downloaded from http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/134596.pdf

The above two papers describe the Volpe Center's support of the Federal Highway Administration's and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's use of weather technologies, weather analysis of surface transportation, and study of the implications of climate change. Adverse weather presents many challenges to surface transportation, and can seriously degrade performance and safety at various scales within the national intermodal network. The Volpe Center supports and helps to coordinate the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) activities related to surface transportation weather, addressing the problems inherent in the day-to-day operational effects of the weather on transportation. The Volpe Center is developing an improved DOT understanding of how weather and climate information is used by the freight industry.

(Added 05/08/08)

Volpe Center Engineer Receives Federal 100 Award

Henry Wychorski, a senior electrical engineer and project manager in the Marine Systems Division, has been selected to receive a prestigious Federal 100 Award. The award was given to him for leading the team that developed and demonstrated the Maritime Security and Safety Information System (MSSIS), which tracks the movement of international maritime traffic in real time in the territorial waters of more than 30 countries. This year’s awardees were selected because they are “agents of change,” and Henry Wychorski’s leadership and innovative contribution to maritime traffic monitoring has made a significant difference to both maritime security and traffic management.

The Federal 100 Awards recognize individuals from government, industry, and academia who significantly influenced how the federal government buys, uses, or manages information technology. Awardees are selected because they are the people who drive change, who help make government smarter and more efficient. Federal 100 candidates are nominated by readers of the Federal Computer Weekly, and an independent panel of judges selects winning entries from government and industry.

Henry is project manager and senior technical lead for the MSSIS; the technology is based on using Global Position System data to develop advanced navigation and tracking systems. MSSIS provides Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) information through an unclassified, multinational, freely shared network. MSSIS uses Automatic Identification System (AIS) data that is broadcast from commercial vessels for tracking the movement of commercial ships in the territorial waters of the member countries.

The Volpe Center, working with the Commander of the US Navy Europe, developed a low-cost network that is capable of collecting and sharing real-time AIS data with multiple users through an internet-based, password-protected system. The network provides clients with real-time MDA.

Henry worked very closely with senior naval officers and science advisors in the US Navy, US Coast Guard, and NATO countries to make this system operational in 2007. Developing a global system of any kind is time consuming and expensive. He was able to use existing technology to build a low-cost, easily deployable, expandable system that provides unprecedented information on international commercial vessel movements. He traveled internationally to meet with customers, and recently went to South America to expand the system in the southern hemisphere.

(Added 04/15/08)

Volpe Center Employee Serves in Afghanistan

Robert Hoaglund, of the Infrastructure Protection and Operations Division, is serving in Afghanistan following a recall to active duty as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army. Since September, 2007 Bob has been working for the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force (CJSOTF). CJSOTF’s mission is to conduct special operations to defeat the Taliban insurgency, and enhance the country's security as well as work within the Combined Security Transition Command's (2-star General Command) role to develop structural, organizational, institutional, and management reforms of Afghan National Security Forces enhancing long term stability and security for the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (IRoA).

Bob has been working with numerous countries conventional and special operations forces as well as US contractors partnered with the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan National Police (ANP). His duties range from training the Afghan Commando’s (elite infantry) to working with the US Embassy in various support functions relating to infrastructure improvement, security, and distribution and material management programs for the IRoA. Most programs involve management of Department's of State and Defense monies totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

He has valued the rich experiences this service has offered him, especially when interacting with the Afghan people, both in the local populace, and the Army. On one mission in Herat (near Iranian border) the villagers were experiencing unprecedented sub-freezing temperatures with no heat or electricity, so the US Special Forces (CJSOTF) provided humanitarian assistance by distributing blankets, winter clothing for children, and high caloric foods. Bob found it rewarding to hand out the commodities and help people (including children) survive in desperate situations.

Bob should be back at Volpe in July after redeploying from Afghanistan to Fort Bragg, NC, and then spending time with his children and family following military service.

(Added 04/08/08)

Passenger Train Emergency Systems
Federal Railroad Administration Issues Revised Regulations

FRA passenger train emergency regulations are designed to ensure that passenger railroads plan for possible emergencies in order to minimize the potential consequences. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) recently issued revised regulations (49 CFR, Part 238) for passenger train emergency systems. The Volpe Center has provided critical technical support to the FRA during the process of developing and building consensus for these revised regulations. Ms. Stephanie Markos of the Rail and Transit Systems Division and Mr. John Pollard of the Human Factors Division have provided FRA with information to related to human factors, as well as engineering considerations.

The Center provided critical technical assistance to the FRA Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) Passenger Safety Working Group and Emergency Preparedness Task Force, which developed and approved the basis for the revised regulations. This consensus-based task force consists of a variety of stakeholders, including Amtrak and commuter railroad management, labor organizations, rail car manufacturers, other vendors, and other interested parties, such as the National Transportation Safety Board.

Passenger rail cars will now be required to have updated public address and intercom systems, as well as additional emergency window exits, rescue access windows, and emergency roof access locations. The improvements are part of a continual effort by the FRA to improve the safety of passenger rail travel and are the result of extensive applied research by the Center, with the goal of enhancing passenger safety.

The FRA plans to issue another proposed rulemaking later this year which will incorporate American Public Transportation Association (APTA) passenger rail equipment safety standards ( PRESS) for emergency lighting, emergency signs, and low-location exit path marking, which were first published in 1999 and were recently revised during the FRA RSAC process. Ms. Markos and Mr. Pollard assisted the FRA Emergency Preparedness Task Force in ensuring that the APTA standards reflect the current state of the art, are technically and economically feasible, and are enforceable.

(Added 03/03/08)

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