Remote surface condition assessment

Abstract

Method, apparatus, and computer program product are provided for assessing road surface condition. In some embodiments, candidate locations each forecast to have a dangerous road surface condition are determined, an optimized flight path is determined comprising a sequence of sites corresponding to the candidate locations, dispatch is made to a first site within the sequence, and a road surface condition at the first site is assessed using an onboard sensor (e.g., spectroradiometer). In some embodiments, a check for new information is performed before dispatch is made to a second site. In some embodiments, the candidate locations are determined using both a model forecast and data-mined locations considered hazardous. In some embodiments, the optimized flight path is determined using TSP optimization constrained by available flight time and prioritized by frequency of historical incident and severity of forecast road surface condition.