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Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations
REPORT |
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Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-17-012 Date: June 2018 |
Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-17-012 Date: June 2018 |
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This document presents the user guide for the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) online Climate Tool.(1) This Tool provides easy access to climatic data extracted from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) database. The MERRA dataset is very large and the Tool provides access to this large dataset in an intuitive and easy-to-use format.
The LTPP Climate Tool provides the option to download historical climate data from 1979 to the present. The climatic attributes available are temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind, and solar. The data are available globally in hourly, daily, monthly, and annual increments.
This new Tool provides pavement and bridge engineers and other users with a simplified method for the extraction and processing of worldwide climate data for infrastructure engineering and other applications.
Cheryl Allen Richter, Ph.D., P.E.
Director, Office of Infrastructure
Research and Development
Notice
This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the use of the information contained in this document.
The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers’ names appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the objective of the document.
Quality Assurance Statement
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides high-quality information to serve Government, industry, and the public in a manner that promotes public understanding. Standards and policies are used to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of its information. FHWA periodically reviews quality issues and adjusts its programs and processes to ensure continuous quality improvement.
Technical Report Documentation Page
1. Report No.
FHWA-HRT-17-012 |
2. Government Accession No.
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3 Recipient's Catalog No.
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4. Title and Subtitle
Long-Term Pavement Performance Climate Tool User Guide |
5. Report Date
June 2018 |
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6. Performing Organization Code
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7. Author(s)
Riaz Ahmad, Jose R. Menendez, and Nima Kargah-Ostadi |
8. Performing Organization Report No.
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9. Performing Organization Name and Address
iENGINEERING Corporation |
10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS)
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11. Contract or Grant No.
DTFH61-14-C-00034 |
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12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address
Office of Infrastructure Research and Development |
13. Type of Report and Period Covered
Final; 2015–2016 |
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14. Sponsoring Agency Code
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15. Supplementary Notes
The Contracting Officer’s Representative was Larry Wiser (HRDI-30). |
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16. Abstract
This report presents the user guide for the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) Climate Tool. The climate data in the LTPP Climate Tool have been extracted from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) database. The LTPP Climate Tool was developed to provide convenient dissemination of climate data derived from the MERRA database for infrastructure engineering applications in customary engineering units. This report includes instructions for the use of the LTPP Climate Tool. The Tool includes both a map and a data module that allow the user to download MERRA elements for temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind, and solar at hourly, daily, monthly, and annual time increments all over the world. |
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17. Key Words
LTPP Climate Tool, Long-Term Pavement Performance, LTPP, climate data, pavement design, pavement performance, Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, MERRA, Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide, MEPDG, weather data |
18. Distribution Statement
No restrictions. This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161. |
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19. Security Classification (of this report) Unclassified |
20. Security Classification (of this page) Unclassified |
21. No. of Pages
35 |
22. Price
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Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) | Reproduction of completed page authorized |