Principal Investigator(s):
Mohammed Hasan, Associate Professor, UMD-Electrical Engineering
Project summary:
This project uses the IDI Active Infrared Ice Detection Sensor, to detect the presence of ice on the roadway and to measure the thickness of the ice layer. Response time and accuracy output of the sensor is also evaluated, and the format of the output is reviewed to determine if correct and useful information can be retrieved and displayed. Calibration procedures are reviewed and diagnostic programs developed to determine when calibration procedures should be implemented. This project will help to improve the understanding on the use of a non-intrusive sensor to detect the presence of ice, snow, water, etc, on the road's surface and to evaluate its accuracy. Based on these parameters we will evaluate its ability to detect development of pavement icing and the present of chemical agents on the roadway, and as a final result to improve the level of confidence on both the road's maintenance crews and the traveling public using the roadways. In a later task we intend to modify the sensor's characteristics in order to investigate if it is possible to detect the presence of deicing chemicals on the roadway surface, calculate their concentrations and recognize their type. In this stage we will use sodium chloride brine, magnesium chloride, and potassium acetate to modify the freezing point of the roadway, and will try to detect the characteristic spectrum of the signals for each of these chemicals retrieved from the sensor and will compare results obtained with other methods.