Pavement condition sensor based on a dual optical frequency comb generator

A pavement condition sensor aims to estimate the pavement surface grip, and therefore the sensor must detect the presence of water, snow, slush or the like on the surface of the pavement. The leading technology for such a sensor is near infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy using a wavelength range around a water absorption peak. In this paper we present a pavement condition sensor based on said technique that uses an electro-optic dual optical frequency comb generator as optical source. The proposed sensor provides unique properties in terms of measuring integration time that are necessary to advance the pavement condition several meters ahead of a moving vehicle. This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (grant TEC2017-86271-R) and by the Madrid Government (Comunidad de Madrid-Spain) under personnel Grant PEJ-2019-AI/IND-13093 and under the Multiannual Agreement with UC3M in the line of Excellence of University Professors (EPUC3M26), and in the context of the V PRICIT (Regional Programme of Research and Technological Innovation)