Road Weather Information System: Tackling the Challenge of Dense Fog Patches

“Dense fog patches” are a fog phenomenon caused by local micro-climatic conditions. This kind of fog usually has a limited coverage area and may only extend for several kilometers or even just a few hundred meters. Within its affected area, visibility is very low, usually only a few tens of meters, and sometimes even only a dozen meters.

Dense fog patches are known for their rapid formation, regional nature, limited coverage area, thick fog, and difficulty in being predicted in advance. Changes in wind direction may cause dense fog patches to migrate. Especially when they appear on highways, visibility may suddenly become extremely low, bringing great safety hazards to drivers and increasing the risk of traffic accidents. Therefore, dense fog patches on highways are also called “mobile killers”.

The Road Weather Information System is a device specifically designed to deal with the problem of low visibility caused by dense fog patches on highways and important traffic sections.

When dense fog patches occur, the meteorological monitoring instruments of the Road Weather Information System, such as visibility meters, will collect relevant data in real time. After analyzing these data, the system will automatically send alarms to the monitoring center and relevant personnel. Duty personnel receive these alarms through the monitoring platform or mobile devices and, after verifying the situation, quickly take measures such as implementing traffic speed limits.