Consultancy for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles

The weather impacts all aspects of travel and presents challenges to the safe and efficient operation of CAVs. Snow, ice and precipitation not only affect driving conditions, they can also interfere with on-board sensors such as Light Detection and Ranging Systems (LiDARs), camera systems and connectivity. Solar storms disrupt high-frequency radio communication and satellites systems such as GPS. The weather also strongly influences demand levels on transport networks; Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) infrastructure must adapt to such changes.

We have world-class expertise and understanding how sensors and systems’ performance is affected by the weather. We are also a recognised provider of accreditation for meteorological instruments and systems for use in the aviation sector, for example.

Weather information is a key consideration in the development and operation of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, as well as other intelligent mobility solutions. The capability to embed real-time weather data into vehicle and infrastructure systems has the potential to further improve overall safety and efficiency.

Weather data, consultancy and research are important for ongoing research, development and implementation of future mobility technology.

Why use the Met Office for Connected Autonomous Vehicles and intelligent mobility

• World-leading meteorological expertise for the transport sector
• World-class science and R&D
• Industry-specific weather data
• Dedicated team
• Flexibility to deploy meteorologists
• Bespoke road surface forecasting
• Added value from consultancy

Request a copy of the report 'Short-period rainfall extremes in the UK'

Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) will rely on situational awareness sensors operating at a range of wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum.

These include visible cameras, lidars and millimetre-wave radars. These systems will be impacted to varying degrees by the meteorological environment, e.g. fog, snow, sun glare and rainfall. It is therefore critical to understand the likely frequency and severity of these different weather conditions.

This first report focusses on short-period rainfall extremes in the UK. Drawing on the Met Office’s extensive climatological record derived from our reference rain gauge network, our operational rainfall network and other resources, the report demonstrates what extreme rainfall rate “looks like”, illustrating this with a number of case studies.

It concludes that the climatology of summertime extreme convective rainfall in SE England provides an appropriate worst case for the whole of the UK. Furthermore, it recommends that further processing of the climatological data is essential to ensure that they are fully applicable to the CAV use case, due to the small scale temporal and spatial sampling characteristics of the sensors.

If you would like a copy of this report, please contact us.