In this episode of “The Stream by AASHTO” podcast, Ken Kunkel – principal research scholar at the North Carolina Institute of Climate Studies at North Carolina State University – explains how transportation agencies can use the Atlas 15 weather tool developed by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration or NOAA to measure the impact of extreme precipitation on various types of infrastructure, such as roads and bridges.
[Above image by AASHTO]
“The Stream by AASHTO” podcast is part of the AASHTO Environmental Management technical service program operated by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. It explores a wide array of environmental topics that affect state departments of transportation and their infrastructure programs.
Kunkel offers a wealth of knowledge on all things meteorology and extreme precipitation, including over 40 years of climate and precipitation research. He is an author on the third and fourth U.S. National Climate Assessment and is also the lead author of the 2020 North Carolina Climate Science Report. He has published around 170 scientific journal articles and book chapters, mostly on climate variability and change.
In this podcast episode, Kunkel discusses how the NOAA Atlas 15 weather tool produces extreme precipitation “values” that are then used in the design phase of various types of infrastructure.
Atlas 15 is also able to incorporate changing climate models when producing future data, he noted.
Kunkel also dives into how effective and accurate Atlas 15 is and how its data can improve the resiliency of infrastructure, particularly in the transportation sector.
To listen to the full podcast, click here.
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