Cornwall leads the way in weather monitoring

144 Vaisala has recently completed the first full-scale installation of 12 next generation RWS200 road weather stations for Cornwall County Council in the UK. The system, including Vaisala’s RoadDSS information services, is now fully operational, just in time for winter driving conditions.
 
The Council decided to invest in the latest road weather sensing technology to enhance the winter service of the county’s highways. Vaisala weather stations are designed to provide highly accurate information for road managers, and include a range of sophisticated devices that report road conditions at regular intervals throughout the day and night.
 
The RWS200 utilises state-of-the-art sensors that are accurate and reliable in the most demanding weather conditions.  When combined with sophisticated RoadDSS decision support software, it forms an intelligent road weather information system called iRWIS. Advanced algorithms collect raw data from the pavement sensor and, by using other atmospheric information, can create better calculations of surface conditions, helping to improve decision-making and reduce costs, while offering greater operational efficiency.
 
Lydia Hewitt, ITC operations officer for Cornwall Council, said of the installation "In these challenging times of austerity this is a very exciting project for Cornwall. We are very pleased to be working with Vaisala on such a project. The new stations provide accurate information allowing for enhanced decisions for salting to be made. This is a capital investment that will deliver revenue savings in both equipment maintenance and road salting."
 
Antero Järvinen, director for Vaisala's Road and Rail Business said, "We are excited about the opportunity to partner with Cornwall in developing a world class road maintenance program. With the Vaisala iRWIS system Cornwall now have a seamlessly integrated and the most comprehensive road weather solution in the industry."