Details:

Creators:
Ray, Peter S. ; Du, Xizhen ; Rivard, Justin
Ray, Peter S. ; Du, Xizhen ; Rivard, Justin Less -
Corporate Creators:
Florida State University. Dept. of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science
Subject/TRT Terms:
[+]
Fatalities Fog Multiple Vehicle Accidents Smoke Traffic Accidents Visibility Weather Forecasting
Publication/ Report Number:
FDOT BDK83 977-19
Resource Type:
Tech Report
Geographical Coverage:
Florida
Corporate Publisher:
Florida. Dept. of Transportation
NTL Classification:
NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Accidents;NTL-ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT-ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT;NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Highway Safety;
Abstract:
On November 22, 2012, at about 8:35 a.m., thick fog resulted in a 140 vehicle accident near Beaumont,

Texas. Remarkably, only two people died and 80 people were injured and required hospital care. On

January 29, 2012, about 4:00 a.m., amidst thick fog and smoke on I-75 south of Gainesville, Florida, 11

people were killed and 18 hospitalized in a multi-vehicle crash. Nationally, there are about 38,000 fog

related vehicle accidents each year resulting in about 620 fatalities. In Florida, between 2002 and 2009,

299 people died in vehicle crashes related to fog and smoke conditions on Florida highways. This is

more than those who died from hurricanes and lightning in Florida over the same time period. Fog is a

cloud on the ground. All types of fog require ubiquitous cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and can form

with a relative humidity less than 100%. The opaqueness (heaviness or thickness) of fog may be

substantially increased by the presence of smoke, due to the increase of CCN. Fog is both spatially and

temporally variable. With observation equipment widely dispersed, the challenge is how to forecast the

occurrence of fog from observation far removed from the location of fog occurrence.

With the available data from 2002 to 2009, the location and frequency of fog was determined, thus

forming a fog climatology. Using the data from that study, researchers evaluated fog-prediction

techniques and made recommendation to improve fog-warning systems along Florida’s highways.


Format:
PDF
Collection(s):
US Transportation Collection
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:8fa06de86343bfcd53513b55a80bca65ca107fb175738a80406c2a7f3ab23c41
Download URL:
https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/26198/dot_26198_DS1.pdf
File Type:

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