A Prototype System to Extract Winter Weather Information for Road Users

Winter weather places a significant burden upon the economy as well as upon individual road users who must decide whether or not to make trips in uncertain weather conditions. There is a significant quantity of data available that is pertinent to the condition of the road surface in winter, but most of it is dispersed and thus not readily accessible to road users. To determine the road conditions for a 300 mile trip across Iowa, a road user would have to access at least nine different web locations. This paper presents a system that automates the data collection needed for road users in such circumstances. The system determines, based on user inputs, which Internet sites need to be surveyed. The system then visits those sites, collects weather data from them, and finally presents the data in an easily read format for the road user. While the system is currently somewhat limited, and can be improved in a number of ways, it nonetheless serves as a prototype system to demonstrate how more realistic systems can be developed and deployed. On the basis of the findings in this project, a more complete implementation of the system, which includes not merely current but forecast weather conditions, can be developed