Lateral wind prevention system

Sistema de prevencion de viento lateral-ferrocarril-sice
Sistema de prevencion de viento lateral-ferrocarril-sice

SICE, in collaboration with the Spanish Railways Infrastructure Administrator (Adif), has developed an algorithm to predict the direction and force of the wind at the exit of a tunnel for a high-speed line. It has been implemented in the Ulla viaduct along the Atlantic Axis between Santiago and Vigo in Galicia.

With the Aquilón application in the Ourense Control Centre, operators receive in real time the lateral wind prediction alarms on the viaduct and can take speed reduction measures and communicate them to the train.

Solution uses information from three weather stations that measure wind direction and speed, but also barometric pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and dew point.

The algorithm makes a 10-minute prediction and provides information with current alarm levels and for the next 10 minutes, historical data and trend graphs.

For this purpose, a wind characterization study was carried out on the viaduct of Ulla and its surroundings. It used data from the stations installed in the viaduct and also historical data of the stations of the Spanish Meteorological Agency.

It has been shown that the 10-minute prediction against real values has a sufficient and reliable precision.

In the implementation carried out in the Ulla viaduct, alarm thresholds have been settled and temporal speed restrictions (TSR) have been assigned by train typology. This was based on the ADIF documentation (MPGI sheet 3 “Actions against windstorms” and experimental consignment C Number 15 “Requirements for the circulation of trains with very strong winds”)