Skip to main content

Accurate roadside visibility monitoring

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
May 31, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Biral SWS-050 roadside visibility sensor
The SWS-050 visibility sensor for roadside monitoring developed by UK company 7359 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 device is provided with heated hoods and window heaters, allowing continued operation in blizzard conditions and preventing condensation forming on the optical surfaces. 

The sensor is a single lightweight unit constructed of high-grade aluminium, robust enough to easily withstand aggressive roadside conditions for many years with minimal maintenance. Typically installed within three metres of the roadside, the SWS-050 provides digital data that integrates easily into any control system, allowing authorities to make timely traffic and road management decisions.  The forward scatter design technology, infra-red light source and intelligent sensing technology gives the SWS-050 proven accuracy, reliability and repeatability.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Long range radar aids wide area traffic monitoring
    March 16, 2012
    Applications of long range radar technology are demonstrating its effectiveness as a first line of defence for highway managers – adding greater resilience and capability to existing systems. Development efforts are bringing long range millimetric wave radar to the fore as a very useful tool for managers of highway networks. Application of radar for wide area monitoring in traffic management remains in its infancy. But recent projects are demonstrating how it can now serve to enhance detection of incidents
  • AVs and poor weather – a bad mix
    May 11, 2020
    The US DoT has produced a report on how adverse weather and road conditions will affect automated vehicles – it found inconsistency between different cars with these features which are already on highways and suggests limitations are not yet understood
  • Urban takes IoT Control
    April 27, 2022
    Urban Node 324 Cellular 'works straight out-of-the-box just like a smartphone'
  • The benefits of Lidar
    March 21, 2022

    While Lidar is gaining ground in the ITS industry, it has not yet reached the level of mass adoption where it shows up frequently in requests for proposals (RFPs) from cities and DoTs.