College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

• Road forecaster

  University research leads to job at Iowa DOT for meteorology alumna.

  
  
• Tina Greenfield was kind of stuck. She needed a
  senior project and didn't have a good idea what she
  should research.
  
  So she went to Gene Takle, professor of geological and atmospheric sciences, for advice. Takle reached into his filing cabinet and pulled out a few suggestions.
  
  One piqued Greenfield's interest.
  
  "There was this one idea that the Iowa DOT (Department of Transportation) had," she recalled. "They wanted to be able to predict bridge frost better.
  
  "I thought that was kind of interesting and I started to work on it."
  
  That trip to Takle's office not only netted Greenfield a senior project but it led to a part-time job at the Iowa
  DOT after she graduated. It also served as a basis for
  her master's thesis.
  
  During the winter months, Greenfield would roll out of bed before 5 a.m. to drive the back roads of Story County in search of bridge frost.
  
  "There were sometimes I wish I could have gotten out of it," Greenfield recalled. "It's at an obscenely early time in the morning. Typically it was extremely cold and I had to scrape my car. It was real tempting just to stay inside."
  
  Her observations of three Story County bridges not only enabled her to finish her master's degree at Iowa State, but it also brought her to the attention of the Iowa DOT. As Greenfield was preparing to graduate, the Iowa DOT was advertising to open a position to coordinate the department's Road Weather Information System (RWIS).
  
  "The position opened up a few months after I graduated and I'm guessing the bridge frost work I did with them helped me get this job," said Greenfield, who has been with the state agency for three years. "While this position is new to the Iowa DOT, it's not unique to the country. State transportation departments started to get weather forecasts for road maintenance purposes back in the '70s. But it is rare a DOT would hire a meteorologist to fill the position."
  
  Greenfield's duties with the Iowa DOT include managing 58 RWIS weather stations at road sites throughout the state. She oversees the maintenance of the stations and makes sure they are running properly.
  
  This is critical, particularly during the winter driving season.
  
  The RWIS stations contain unique pavement sensors as well as sub-surface sensors that help state road crews determine when it is necessary to start treating roadways.
  
  "During the winter, the other weather information needs to be more focused and that's something the crews in the field can't get from the television, radio or even the National Weather Service," Greenfield said. "That's where the RWIS stations come in.
  
  "The pavement temperature sensors are extremely important because pavement temperature can vary widely from air temperature and even from asphalt to concrete.
  
  "It's extremely helpful to have weather observations right off the side of the road - you know what to expect and we have a greater chance of keeping the roads from becoming ice packed."
  
  In addition to maintaining the RWIS stations, Greenfield also conducts weather training with Iowa DOT staff members throughout the state, oversees various state contracts and federal projects, and is available to assist road maintenance managers with weather information questions.
  
  Ironically one thing she doesn't do much of is forecasting the weather.
  
  "That's drives people nuts that I don't do that," she says. "While weather is what I went to school for, there has been enough different angles to this job that there's always something new - either new weather equipment or a new research project.
  
  "That makes the job really interesting."

Tina Greenfield

Cyclone
Fall 2007

Ames, Iowa 50011, (515) 294-4111. Published by: University Relations, online@iastate.edu. Copyright © 1995-2004, Iowa State University of Science and Technology. All rights reserved.

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