PURPOSES : The aim of this study is to develop a road fog information system based on the geostationary meteorological satellite (GK2A) for road weather services on highways. METHODS : Three threshold values sensitive to fog intensity in the GK2A fog algorithm were optimized using multi-class receiver operating characteristic analysis to produce road fog information depending on day and night. The developed a GK2A road fog algorithm that can detect three levels of road fog based on the visibility distance criteria (1km, 500m, and 200m). Furthermore, the GK2A road fog product was not only substituted with visibility objective analysis data in unknown and cloud-covered areas of satellite data, but also integrated with visibility distance data obtained from visibility gauges and CCTV image analysis to improve the accuracy of road fog information. RESULTS : The developed road fog algorithm based on meteorological satellite data provides real-time road fog information categorized into three levels (attention, caution, and danger) based on the visibility distance, with a spatial resolution of 1km × 1km and temporal resolution of 5 minutes. The road fog algorithm successfully detected road fog in five out of seven fog-related traffic accidents reported by Korean media outlets from 2020 to 2022, resulting in a detection success rate of 71.4%. The Korea Meteorological Administration is currently in the process of installing additional visibility gauges on 26 highways until 2025, and the next high-resolution meteorological satellite (GK5) is planned to be launched in 2031. We look forward to significantly improving the accuracy of the road fog hazard information service in the near future. CONCLUSIONS : The road fog information test service was initiated on the middle inner highway on July 27, 2023, and this service is accessible to all T-map and Kakao-map users through car navigation systems free of charge. After 2025, all drivers on the 26 Korean highways will have access to real-time road fog information services through their navigation systems.

PURPOSES : This study demonstrates the need for the collection of road weather information in order to perform efficient snow removal works during the winter season. Snow removal operations are usually dependent upon weather information obtained from the Automatic Weather Station provided by the Korea Meteorological Administration. However, there are some difference between road weather and weather forecasts in their scope. This is because general weather forecasts are focused on macroscopic standpoints rather than microscopic perspectives. METHODS : In this study, the relationship between snow removal works and historical weather forecasts are properly analyzed to prove the importance of road weather information. We collected both weather data and snow removal works during winter season at "A" regional offices in Gangwon areas. RESULTS : Results showed that the validation of weather forecasts for snow removal works were depended on the height difference between AWS location and its neighboring roadway. CONCLUSIONS : Namely, it appears that road weather information should be collected where AWS location and its neighboring roadway have relatively big difference in their heights.

Better understanding the mechanism of black ice occurrence on the road in winter is necessary to reduce the socio-economic damage it causes. In this study, intensive observations of road weather elements and surface information under the influence of synoptic high-pressure patterns (22nd December, 2020 and 29th January, and 25th February, 2021) were carried out using a mobile observation vehicle. We found that temperature and road surface temperature change is significantly influenced by observation time, altitude and structure of the road, surrounding terrain, and traffic volume, especially in tunnels and bridges. In addition, even if the spatial distribution of temperature and road surface temperature for the entire observation route is similar, there is a difference between air and road surface temperatures due to the influence of current weather conditions. The observed road temperature, air temperature and air pressure in Nongong Bridge were significantly different to other fixed road weather observation points.