In the future, anyone will be able to easily check and take precautions against icy roads and fog during winter. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) announced that it will fully open road hazard weather information and road weather observation data to the public starting from the 15th.
Road hazard weather information includes ‘road ice occurrence possibility information’ and ‘road visibility hazard information,’ which are provided to drivers in real-time through navigation apps and road electronic signboards (VM). Since 2022, the KMA has installed 366 road weather observation devices in 12 habitual freezing and foggy sections of national highways and has been operating a ‘road hazard weather information pilot service’ based on this.
However, from now on, anyone can freely use the road hazard weather information service website (http://rwis.kma.go.kr) and the weather data open portal (http://data.kma.go.kr) API service. In particular, the KMA plans to complete the installation of road weather observation networks on 31 national highways by 2027 and continuously expand the road hazard weather information service based on this.
KMA Administrator Lee Mi-seon stated, “The regular service of road hazard weather information will act as a beacon to protect the public from road hazards, and as the service is fully open, it is expected to be utilized in various fields.” She added, “We will continue to discover and add hazardous weather information that affects traffic safety, such as strong winds, in addition to road ice and fog, and diversify the service channels.”