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Assessment of satellite-based MERRA climate data in AASHTOWare pavement mechanistic-empirical design

Authors :
Gopisetti, Praveen
Ceylan, Halil
Cetin, Bora
Kim, Sunghwan
Source :
Road Materials and Pavement Design; December 2022, Vol. 23 Issue: 12 p2876-2885, 10p
Publication Year :
2022

Abstract

The pavement performance system depends on various factors including traffic loading, climate conditions, and material properties. Variations in ambient temperatures and moistures can change material properties and consequently affect the overall pavement performance. Collecting climate data has been a significant challenge. This study compares the pavement performance predictions of Iowa composite pavement systems in AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design (PMED) software using four climate data sources: (1) ground-based weather station, (2) North American Regional Reanalysis and (3) the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) version 1 and (4) MERRA version 2. The findings showed disagreement among climate data sources for some of the distresses due to the significant differences in percent sunshine hourly measurements. Database for ‘synthetic’ percent sunshine is developed using surface shortwave radiation (SSR) estimates directly provided by MERRA to improve pavement performance predictions. This study recommends the use of SSR as an input in PMED.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
14680629 and 21647402
Volume :
23
Issue :
12
Database :
Supplemental Index
Journal :
Road Materials and Pavement Design
Publication Type :
Periodical
Accession number :
ejs61018585
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1080/14680629.2021.2009010