Developing a Storm Severity Index

2005 ◽  
Vol 1911 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilfrid A. Nixon ◽  
Lin Qiu
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Severity Index ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Highway Maintenance ◽  
Winter Maintenance ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Precipitation Type ◽  
Written Descriptions ◽  
Quality Process

A primary goal in winter highway maintenance is to develop various maintenance processes so that quality control can be measured. If actions can be measured, they can be improved. A difficulty with this approach is that winter maintenance addresses the impacts of winter weather on the transportation system and that weather is inherently uncontrollable. Consequently, for a quality process to be applied to winter maintenance, the severity of individual storms must be assessed. This paper presents one way in which the severity of a storm can be measured, specifically by an index. The first step in developing an index for individual storms is to develop a method of describing storms. The method here describes storms by using six factors, including prestorm and poststorm conditions and temperatures, wind speed, and precipitation type. The matrix created is a refinement of that presented in FHWA's manual of practice for effective anti-icing. With the use of a simplified variation of this matrix-based description of storms (more than 250 descriptions), a score is generated for each storm type. This score is then adjusted so that scores for all storms fall into a normal distribution between 0 and 1. This ranking of storms was evaluated by winter maintenance garage supervisors at the Iowa Department of Transportation. Supervisors were asked to rank 10 storms (presented as brief written descriptions) from easiest to hardest to handle. Results were compared with those of the initial storm severity index. From that comparison, numerical values for certain factors were adjusted so that storm severity index scores for these 10 storms agreed with rankings given by the garage supervisors.

scholarly journals Multi-Measure Quality Analysis of Weather Forecasts Used for Winter Highway Maintenance Purposes

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunanda Dissanayake ◽  
Wei He ◽  
Dean Landman ◽  
Mary Knapp
Keyword(s):  
Performance Measure ◽  
Quality Analysis ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Highway Maintenance ◽  
Winter Maintenance ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Best Value ◽  
Departments Of Transportation ◽  
Combined Data

State Departments of Transportation spend a considerable portion of their winter maintenance budgets getting accurate weather forecasts that are essential for proactive operations and are interested in getting the best value for their money. With that intention, the Kansas Department of Transportation obtained weather forecasts from three commercial weather data providers for four selected locations within the state of Kansas. This paper presents a quality analysis of those forecasts to identify the most accurate and reliable provider. In doing so, researchers used the prediction of frost events as the performance measure. Several different measures that were capable of quantifying the selected attributes (reliability, accuracy, and skill) were used to evaluate different forecasts for each location and for combined data.

scholarly journals Expanding HadISD: quality-controlled, sub-daily station data from 1931

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. H. Dunn ◽  
Kate M. Willett ◽  
David E. Parker ◽  
Lorna Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Time Range ◽  
Underlying Structure ◽  
Control Procedure ◽  
Future Projections ◽  
Quality Control Procedure ◽  
Temporal Coverage ◽  
Extremes Of Temperature ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract. HadISD is a sub-daily, station-based, quality-controlled dataset designed to study past extremes of temperature, pressure and humidity and allow comparisons to future projections. Herein we describe the first major update to the HadISD dataset. The temporal coverage of the dataset has been extended to 1931 to present, doubling the time range over which data are provided. Improvements made to the station selection and merging procedures result in 7677 stations being provided in version 2.0.0.2015p of this dataset. The selection of stations to merge together making composites has also been improved and made more robust. The underlying structure of the quality control procedure is the same as for HadISD.1.0.x, but a number of improvements have been implemented in individual tests. Also, more detailed quality control tests for wind speed and direction have been added. The data will be made available as netCDF files at www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadisd and updated annually.

scholarly journals On the characteristics of ASCAT wind direction ambiguities

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1053-1060 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Lin ◽  
M. Portabella ◽  
A. Stoffelen ◽  
A. Verhoef
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Maximum Likelihood ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Direction ◽  
Maximum Likelihood Estimators ◽  
High Rank ◽  
Low Rank ◽  
The Third ◽  
Low Probability

Abstract. The inversion of the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) backscatter measurement triplets generally leads to two wind ambiguities with similar wind speed values and opposite wind directions. However, for up-, down- and crosswind (with respect to the mid-beam azimuth direction) cases, the inversion often leads to three or four wind solutions. In most of such cases, the inversion residuals or maximum likelihood estimators (MLEs) of the third and fourth solutions (i.e. high-rank solutions) are substantially higher than those of the first two (low-rank) ambiguities. This indicates a low probability for the high-rank solutions and thus essentially dual ambiguity. This paper investigates the characteristics of ASCAT high-rank wind solutions under different conditions with the objective of developing a method for rejecting the spurious high-rank solutions. The implementation of this rejection procedure improves the effectiveness of the ASCAT wind quality control (QC) and ambiguity removal procedures.

AAA proteases of mitochondria: quality control of membrane proteins and regulatory functions during mitochondrial biogenesis

2001 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Langer ◽  
M. Käser ◽  
C. Klanner ◽  
K. Leonhard
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Membrane Proteins ◽  
Matrix Space ◽  
Inner Membrane ◽  
Membrane Surfaces ◽  
Mitochondrial Inner Membrane ◽  
Catalytic Sites ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Regulatory Functions

An ubiquitous and conserved proteolytic system regulates the stability of mitochondrial inner membrane proteins. Two AAA proteases with catalytic sites at opposite membrane surfaces form a membrane-integrated quality control system and exert crucial functions during the biogenesis of mitochondria. Their activity is modulated by another membrane-protein complex that is composed of prohibitins. Peptides generated upon proteolysis in the matrix space are transported across the inner membrane by an ATP-binding cassette transporter. The function of these conserved components is discussed in the present review.

Variations observed for insulin concentrations in an interlaboratory quality control program may be due to interferences between reagents and the matrix of the control materials

2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (13-14) ◽  
pp. 1088-1091 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raúl Bonnin Rigo ◽  
Mariona García Panyella ◽  
Luis Roncero Bartolomé ◽  
Pedro Alía Ramos ◽  
Pilar Rosel Soria ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Control Program ◽  
Quality Control Program ◽  
The Matrix

scholarly journals Statistical dynamics of equatorial waves in tropical radiosonde wind data

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 16345-16384
Author(s):  
T.-Y. Koh ◽  
Y. S. Djamil ◽  
C. K. Teo
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Shape Parameter ◽  
Equatorial Waves ◽  
Strong Wind ◽  
Malay Peninsula ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Statistical Dynamics ◽  
The Central Limit Theorem ◽  
Global Datasets

Abstract. Weibull distributions were fitted to wind speed data from radiosonde stations in the global tropics. A statistical theory of equatorial waves was proposed to explain the shape parameter k obtained over Malay Peninsula and the wider Equatorial Monsoon Zone. The theory uses the (−5/3)-power law in quasi-2-D turbulence, classical Boltzmann statistics and the Central Limit Theorem. It provides a statistical dynamical basis for using empirical Weibull fits to derive wind speed thresholds for monitoring data quality. The regionally adapted thresholds retain more useful data than conventional ones defined from taking the regional mean plus three standard deviations. The new approach is shown to eliminate reports of atypically strong wind over Malay Peninsula which may have escaped detection in quality control of global datasets as the latter has assumed a larger spread of wind speed.

scholarly journals Quality control of the RMI's AWS wind observations

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 13-19
Author(s):  
Cédric Bertrand ◽  
Luis González Sotelino ◽  
Michel Journée
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Temporal Consistency ◽  
Data Quality Control ◽  
Decision Algorithm ◽  
M 10 ◽  
Spatial Consistency ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Automated Procedures

Abstract. Wind observations are important for a wide range of domains including among others meteorology, agriculture and extreme wind engineering. To ensure the provision of high quality surface wind data over Belgium, a new semi-automated data quality control (QC) has been developed and applied to wind observations from the automated weather stations operated by the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium. This new QC applies to 10 m 10 min averaged wind speed and direction, 10 m gust speed and direction, 2 m 10 min averaged wind speed and 30 m 10 min averaged wind speed records. After an existence test, automated procedures check the data for limits consistency, internal consistency, temporal consistency and spatial consistency. At the end of the automated QC, a decision algorithm attributes a flag to each particular data point. Each day, the QC staff analyzes the preceding day's observations in the light of the assigned quality flags.

Developing a Pre-Task Safety Briefing Tool for Kentucky Maintenance Personnel

2018 ◽  
Vol 2672 (12) ◽  
pp. 187-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zamaan Al-Shabbani ◽  
Roy Sturgill ◽  
Gabriel B. Dadi
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Safety Training ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Highway Maintenance ◽  
Safety Practices ◽  
Safety Standards ◽  
Safety Research ◽  
Safety Awareness ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Maintenance Personnel

The dangerous work environment in the construction industry and the inherent high risks associated with its work make it the focus of safety training and regulations. Highway construction and maintenance has unique hazards but seemingly less directly applicable safety standards, regulations, and programs. Department of Transportation (DOT) employees working in highway maintenance are exposed to a variety of unique hazards specifically associated with their work and not relating to the adjacent traffic. Highway site safety does not receive sufficient attention in terms of safety research and programs. As part of the efforts of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) to improve safety for their employees, this paper describes the data-driven design of a pre-task safety briefing tool. By analyzing previous incident data of KYTC maintenance workers and identifying frequent hazards present within their typical work operations and the reasons behind such hazards, the final product of this study is a tool that is relatable and relevant to KYTC maintenance workers. The tool presents these hazards along with the associated reasons and the appropriate safety practices to avoid or mitigate the associated risk. The data analysis of this study highlighted that human factors and ergonomics play a significant role in the injuries related to the subject population, yet there is little guidance or standards for addressing these factors. The goal of this safety tool is to improve the safety performance of KYTC maintenance crews by increasing workers’ safety awareness.

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