Road conditions are a critical issue for road users as, if not given sufficient attention, they may threaten users’ lives. The environmental parameters, such as snowy, icy, dry and wet, are important in relation to the condition of roads. This is particularly true in relation to the northern regions and greatest concern should be in relation to snowy and icy situations. In this thesis, a system based on an InGaAs area scan sensor utilizes NIR technology to detect water or ice on the road so as to enable drivers to avoid slippery road conditions. The conditions caused by freezing water on road surface are particularly dangerous and are not easy to observe and it is hope that this project will boost traffic safety. The system is able to assist road maintenance personnel in forecasting and detecting slippery road conditions during winter road maintenance (WRM). The system, which is based on FPGA, has functionalities that display the captured images on an HDMI monitor and send the images to the software on a host PC via the UART protocol. An interface board, which carries the sensor and which connects to the FPGA board, is developed for NIR sensor. VHDL implementation and PC software design are the works included in the project. Besides, this device is exploited utilizing InGaAs image sensor. According to its features, it can be applied in other applications which will also be discussed. Finally, experiments are conducted in order to investigate the system’s operation with the variation of temperature.

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) structures long-term plans for Europe's threatened water resources. Owning to the inherent and human-made complexities of the water cycle, stakeholders must move strategically to avoid crisis and restore sustainability. Yet, the reality of water resource management today is falling short on delivery. Stakeholders require strategic tools that will help them to build consensus and take action in the right direction. Using the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD), this study shows how Decision Support Systems can be strategically improved using a whole-systems approach grounded in basic Principles for Sustainability. In this way, stakeholders will be capable of making synchronized moves towards sustainability and thus more likely to realize the WFD’s goal of ‘good status’ for all European waterways by 2015.

Man-made materials such as fiber-reinforced composites (FRCs) can be tailored for optimum performance in product design applications in terms of strength and weight. The current work is aimed at studying the behaviors of composite laminates based on E-glass CSM (Chopped Strand Mat) or WRM (Woven Roving Mat) plies with a polyester resin for impact protection applications. Detailed mechanical characterization of CSM and WRM laminates till failure is carried out for tensile, compressive and shear loads by varying manufacturing process, number of plies, and laminate thickness. The effect of fiber volume fraction on mechanical properties is shown. The efficacy of CSM and WRM laminates as energy- absorbing countermeasures is studied by performing quasi-static and axial impact tests on cylindrical tubes made of the stated FRCs. In addition to load-displacement and specific energy absorption attributes, failure modes are of interest in such studies. The potential of FRC laminates for protection against projectile impact is investigated by performing low velocity impact perforation tests with a falling tup fitted with an indentor, and medium to high velocity projectile impact tests in a gas gun-based device. The valuable results generated are used for the validation of nonlinear finite element-based CAE (Computer-Aided Engineering) procedures including application of a multi-modal failure criterion for explicit dynamic analysis. The present study not only throws light on complex mechanical behavior of an important class of lightweight materials under static and dynamic loads, but also simulation tools for the design of impact safety countermeasures such as bullet-proof laminates and energy–absorbing components for automotive body structures.