New Optical Sensor Tells Amount of Salt On Snowy Roads

CARLOS III UNIVERSITY, MADRID, SPAIN. Salt is known to be an effective way to prevent ice from forming on roads. In fact, most countries that experience snow regularly put salt on their roads to make it passable even when there’s ice present. However, too much salt on the road can also harm not just vehicles but also infrastructures and the environment.

That is why some engineers at Carlos III University in Madrid, Spain designed a new optical sensor that will be useful for snowy situations. With the new optical sensor, they will be able to tell the amount of salt there is on the road. That way, they will be able to avoid putting excessive salt on the road.

Spreading salt has already become a common practice in many countries to prevent ice and hazards that snow can cause for traffic on the road. It is also a preventive treatment that is usually based on weather forecasts. The only problem with this method is that they are not able to tell exactly when the salt on the road is enough or more than enough. The salt on the road can be scattered unevenly from the previous frost and snowfall.

Studies have shown that too much salt on the road can cause harm to vehicles and infrastructure as sodium chloride has the ability to damage vegetation and it also contaminates aquifers. In the same manner, using too much salt on the road can cause financial and product waste.

The new optical sensors help avoid these from happening. It has been developed by Marta Ruiz-Llata and her team of engineers at Carlos III University in Madrid, Spain. She said the sensor acts remotely and its compact design makes for easy installation in any road maintenance vehicle. They are planning to make the sensor part of a system for monitoring road parameters currently being developed by the team.