New Zealand council deploys road-weather data service on alpine road

Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC), New Zealand, is set to receive accurate road-weather data for the alpine Crown Range road this winter following the signing of a five-year decision-support contract with MetService.
June 19, 2017 Read time: 2 mins


Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC), New Zealand, is set to receive accurate road-weather data for the alpine Crown Range road this winter following the signing of a five-year decision-support contract with MetService.

The new contract provides for the installation of a solar-powered automated weather station, a high-resolution road/sky camera, embedded road sensors and road-weather forecasting from MetService.

The Crown Range Road can be significantly impacted by severe weather events all year, with snow and ice making the road dangerous for users during the cooler months of May to September. Reduced visibility, strong winds and heavy rainfall events can also impact the road at any time of the year.

The new weather station and auxiliaries will deliver data on the prevailing real-time and expected conditions and the road’s environmental status and provide MetService’s road-weather forecasters with dynamic information, enabling them to prepare accurate guidance and decision-support insights for QLDC and road maintenance contractor Downer.

It will provide updates every minute and, together with the embedded sensors, deliver air and road temperatures, road status, dew point, humidity, wind direction and speed, rainfall and associated road weather data.

The data will be communicated via a cellular network into the MetService MetConnect weather dashboard and the new Foreca (MetService’s new Scandinavian road weather partner) high-resolution road visualisations that will model road conditions every 30 metres over the road’s entire 25 kilometres.

Under the contract, MetService will provide QLDC and Downer with onsite training  and will be responsible for the provision of data and the regular maintenance, upgrades and performance verifications of the equipment in the field.

Air Quality & Weather Systems

Related Content

  • Arizona dust settles with Vaisala
    December 20, 2022
    PWD10 visibility sensors and RWS200 system make driving safer on wind-blown highway
    Read More
  • The ice man cometh
    August 7, 2018
    Extreme meteorological events have captured global headlines in recent years. Adam Hill talks to Vaisala’s Mark DeVries about what that means for transportation companies trying to keep roads clear. Extreme meteorological events have captured global headlines in recent years. Adam Hill talks to Vaisala’s Mark DeVries about what that means for transportation companies trying to keep roads clear
    Read More
  • Accurate roadside visibility monitoring
    May 31, 2013
    The SWS-050 visibility sensor for roadside monitoring developed by UK company Biral measures local weather conditions and instantly relays this information to road users via electronic signage, warning drivers of unexpected hazards such as fog patches and enabling rapid response by authorities in the event of dangerous conditions. With a measurement range of 10 metres to 40 kilometres, the SWS-050 operates in temperatures ranging from -40ºC to 60ºC and is unaffected by local lights or reflections. The devic
    Read More
  • Lufft forecasts better road info
    March 4, 2022
    Global provider of environmental monitoring solutions in water and weather applications, OTT HydroMet will participate at Intertraffic to focus on its Lufft brand with a range of systems including a rain sensor, visibility sensors, and the award-winning Marwis mobile road weather sensor.
    Read More

Highlighted Content