Road condition analysis using NIR illumination and compensating for surrounding light

• NIR-camera and laser system for road condition classification.
• Method handling surrounding light so the application can be realized in a real scenario at a road.
• Clear separation between different road conditions as dry asphalt and asphalt covered by ice snow and water.
• Fast and simple algorithm for road condition classification.

An investigation of a NIR camera system for road surface classification has been conducted for several road conditions. The surfaces were illuminated with three wavelengths, 980 nm, 1310 nm and 1550 nm and a halogen lamp, to simulate a real environment application with surrounding light. A measuring scheme to deal with surrounding light has been implemented enabling road condition classification from NIR images in a real environment. The retrieved camera images have been analyzed and an RGB representation of the different surfaces has been created to classify the different road conditions. The investigation shows that it is possible to distinguish between dry, moist, wet, frosty, icy and snowy road surfaces using a NIR camera system in a disturbed environment.