Clarus is a Latin word that means ‘clear’. The Clarus Initiative was developed in 2004 to develop innovative weather observation for surface transportation. Correct and forward-thinking weather observation is critical to the transportation system and safety. The Clarus Initiative strives to come up with effective ways of forecasting weather incidents, as well as to develop an effective data management system that can be easily used and benefitted from.
The hope for a Nationwide Surface Transportation Weather Observing and Forecasting System was at the heart of the Clarus Initiative. They understand just how important it is that weather managers be able to learn, use and understand such a system in order to be able to have a chance to alleviate the sometimes devastating effects that adverse weather can have on those who are traveling at any given time. Some of the effects that adverse weather can have those who are travelling are delays, accidents, injuries and fatalities just to name a few. So you can see why there was such support for the Clarus Initiative.
Surface Transportation Weather Issues that Drives the Clarus Initiative
Those who are in charge of and using the surface transportation system are undermined by being given data that is not up to date or anywhere near completely accurate, thus no matter what their intentions are it’s nearly impossible to protect people. In order to be anywhere near as effective as they need to be, they need to have access to accurate road conditions and on point weather data, analysis and forecasts.
Scary Stats that Should Have Been Avoidable
In 2001 alone, there were over 1.4 million accidents that were directly related to the adverse weather conditions experienced that year. There were over 615,000 injured and nearly 7,000 people died from these accidents. This data was pulled directly from the NHTSA Fatality Reporting System (FARS), as well as the General Estimates System (GES). These numbers are completely unacceptable given the technologies we’re able to develop and produce, which is why the Clarus Initiative is so important.
Each year, there are almost a BILLION hours of delays due to the weather. Why? Shouldn’t we be able to tell that adverse weather is on the way and plan transportation accordingly? People should be forewarned and know ahead of time that there’s no point of scheduling travel plans or reserving tickets when it’s obvious there are going to be major delays due to the weather.
This is why it’s vital that organizations like the Clarus Initiative are given the support needed in order to bring weather and road condition techniques up to date and integrate it seamlessly so that the public can be made aware, as well those who work in the public transportation systems.
How the Clarus Initiative Plans to Solve This
The Clarus Initiative wants to develop clear and open communication channels between the weather community and the professionals who work in the public transportation sector. Without an effective means of transferring information from one to the other, there will never be improved transportation safety. The hope is to strengthen the ties that lie between like-minded organizations and departments, such as the Federal Highway Administration and the National oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
There should be effective means to gather and communicate data for observations of road conditions, current and possible near future weather adversities. All of this data needs to be able to be entered into modern, cutting-edge technology that will serve as a realistic weather modeler.
Important Milestones for the Clarus Initiative
In order for any organization to be successful you have to have a clear plan of action and well-defined milestones to track your progress. For the Clarus Initiative, here are some of the most important milestones that have been laid out:
Determine the ownership that stakeholders will have, as well as what role they’ll play in designing the supportive concepts and objectives of the Clarus Initiative.
Develop and streamline work across all of the vital weather and surface transportation companies. This includes doing in-depth research to determine the holes in today’s observation networks and devising a solid plan of action to build an effective and robust architecture that will support and enhance transportation operations to the degree that is needed.
The Initiative Coordinating Committee (ICC)
Every initiative of this size needs a well-structured, interdisciplinary source to provide guidance and specific expertise to their respective manners. The ICC is meant to do just that. It will include expert minds of our time involved in the transportation service industry and the meteorological community. Members included on the committee will be from all different sectors including private, academic and public. The ICC members will provide expert advice, develop unbiased reviews on individual projects and help in the outreach that is needed to make the Clarus Initiative a success.
As long as the Clarus Initiative is alive, the ICC will be there alongside or behind it. Members of the Initiative Coordinating Committee will provide expertise in all matters related to the Clarus Initiative including, but not limited to:
- System design
- Proof of concepts for design ideas
- Reviewing design ideas
- Deployment of models that make it past the design phase
- Networking
- Data management
