12/8/2008
New 'Environmental Sensor Stations' Show and Tell ITD Crews where the Snow Is
BOISE - You may have seen one and not known what it was. Just in time for the winter driving season, the Idaho Transportation Department has installed nine additional Environmental Sensor Stations (ESS) throughout the southwestern part of the state, more than doubling the number already in use in the region.
The sensors are part of ITD's Road Weather Information System (RWIS), which provides winter maintenance crews fast data on remote roads without the need to travel long distances to determine their condition -- expediting response time while saving resources and money.
The sensors measure:
- barometric pressure
- wind speed and direction
- precipitation
- relative humidity
- air temperature
- visibility.
Two of the new stations are adorned with solar panels, making them appear 'futuristic.' One is on Idaho 55 at Horseshoe Bend. The other is on Idaho 21 at Highland Valley Summit (MP 14). All of the region's seventeen (17) weather stations have new cameras that are days away from going on-line as part of the statewide 511 Traveler Services. The web images are best viewed with the high bandwidth web option, or on mobile web devices due to the download time requirement.
ITD recently visited with local media in hopes that more informational outlets will include 511 information on their web sites as a service to the traveling public. The 511 Traveler Services was recently upgraded with improved voice-recognition capability, highway information that can be selected by highway section, improved incident location identification, a new menu option for truckers, and a high speed Internet option that incorporates Google map technology. 511.idaho.gov also includes still photos from one hundreds camera strategically placed through the state.