The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Road Weather Management Program, in conjunction with the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office established the Clarus Initiative in 2004 to reduce the impact of adverse weather conditions on surface transportation users. The goal of the initiative is to create a robust data assimilation, quality checking, and data dissemination system that can provide near real-time atmospheric and pavement observations from the collective state's investments in road weather information system, environmental sensor stations (ESS).

The initiative has undergone rapid development using proven systems engineering practices and soliciting guidance from an active multidisciplinary stakeholder group. At the time of this writing (Fall 2006), the Clarus Initiative shifted from its initial development phase into a proof-of-concept demonstration, processing data from three State DOTs. In addition to systems engineering, there has been substantial work performed to optimize quality checking algorithms for ESS and to define the final developmental phase. This final phase, the Clarus Regional Demonstration, will test the ability of the network to perform as designed, and also challenge users to be innovative in the creation of new observational and forecast products. Such products are intended to ultimately create a safer and more efficient surface transportation system. This paper will review the development of the Clarus Initiative to date, and provide details about its future paths.