ST. LOUIS, Oct. 15 - Intelligent Transportation Society of America member Quixote Transportation Technologies, Inc. (QTT) has released a new version of its Road/Runway Weather Information (RWIS) software, called Navigator. QTT's Navigator is user-friendly software designed to view weather data collected from an RWIS station. Two options are available and the new software provides numerous improvements in capability and design, including user-personalization features.

"Viewing your RWIS data is just as important as the system collecting it," comments Jon Tarleton, Marketing Manager and Meteorologist for QTT. Data collected from RWIS stations includes atmospheric weather data, pavement weather temperatures and status, as well as many other parameters depending on the customer's system. "[QTT] has always provided user-friendly software for its RWIS customers, and now with Navigator we able to give the customer more control over how they view their data," adds Tarleton.

Navigator software is available to customers using their own computer server or a hosted server owned by QTT. Many customers prefer to perform their own data collection so a computer server at their facility is the best option for them. This version is called SCAN Web Navigator. The hosted version of Navigator is equally reliable, but does not require the customer to purchase their own server. The hosted software is called RWIS online Navigator. Sometimes customer security issues restrict access to RWIS data, but since the hosted version is managed by QTT there are no hassles with an agency's computer network. In addition, data sharing allows customers to view their own data as well as other agency's data that participate in the program. Data from each Navigator software version is viewed using a web-based interface, and both have the same product features.

One of the greatest advantages of Navigator software is that it allows the customer to personalize their view of RWIS data. Features such as a default home page of their choice, user-selectable display units (standard, metric, etc.), time zone selection, and improved mapping capabilities allow the customer to create and configure their own style of Navigator. In addition, Navigator has a built-in administration tool for managing users, station groups and RWIS site configurations.

A very important feature of Navigator is alarm/alert notification when user-defined weather parameters are met. For example, if the customer desires to be notified of wet pavement, below freezing the software will automatically display and send a warning notice. The customer can set up numerous watch/warning criteria with a few simple clicks in the software.

Navigator has many features that give control to the customer, but it also has improved performance and the capability to view more data on a single display. With Navigator the customer's history data from multiple RWIS sensors can be viewed in a single display, their camera images will download quickly, and with a new data collection server the software handles customer-specific data requests and manages availability of communication equipment resources.

"QTT is very excited to release this software," states Tarleton. "There are a lot of ways for customers to view RWIS data, but Navigator gives the user more control than any other software package on the market and provides more features for customer interaction with their data."

Quixote Corporation ( www.quixotecorp.com) through its wholly owned subsidiaries Quixote Transportation Safety, Inc. and Quixote Transportation Technologies, Inc., is the world's leading manufacturer of energy-absorbing highway crash cushions, truck-mounted attenuators, highway advisory radio transmitting devices, distance measuring and traffic sensing devices, road weather information stations, fixed and mobile pavement sensors, flexible post delineators and other highway safety products and services.