DUBLIN, Ohio – Winter weather can be a challenge for cities to prepare for, but more and more people are turning to technology to help know when to send in plow trucks to treat and clear roads.
Dublin is one of many cities that uses its own weather sensors. Dublin purchased three sensors from Vue Robotics at a cost of about $2,300 each. The city intends to purchase a fourth in the near future.
The sensors send images and live weather information, including road temperatures, to city offices.
“Basically what we look at is the air temperature and the ground temperature,” said Gary Browning, operations manager in Dublin. “It has made management more efficient and supervisors are able to see where weather patterns are moving and be able to see road temperatures.”
Two sensors were placed on the busiest bridges in the city. One is located on the Avery Road Bridge, which crosses State Route 33. The other is located on the Emerald Parkway Bridge, which crosses the Scioto River. The third sensor was placed at the far western edge of Dublin, allowing Browning and the city to monitor how weather systems are approaching the area.
“For the camera that's farther west. Our weather patterns come in from that end of town, which gives us a chance to see what temperatures start to reflect the ground temperatures as events move into town,” Browning said.
Before the advent of city-owned sensors, it was a bit of a guessing game about road temperatures. Browning said they will rely on sensors that are sometimes over the county.
“We found this specific information in a wireless platform and we can put it inside the city and see what's happening here instead of in the outlying counties,” he said. “It may be snowing. It feels cold to us, but that doesn't necessarily mean the snow will stick to the ground if the ground is warmer. It gives us a better chance of determining what type of treatment to provide.”
This is the sensors' second winter, and Browning said they are still learning how to best use them, including during the summer months.
“I think as we learn and this platform also evolves, it will move into some AI information where it will be able to do some precipitation detection and accumulation detection. I think as we see more of that coming online, we will find more uses for it.”
Other communities, such as Delaware, have begun deploying weather sensors to help with winter road preparations.
After the snow falls, Dublin runs its Snow Go program so residents can monitor plows and road conditions. Hilliard and Columbus also run similar programs.
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