Project: Northern Traffic Lights
The project develops a digital platform to monitor and predict the trafficability of forest roads. The aim is to improve transport planning and ensure resilient supply chains for forest-based industries in a changing climate.
Project information
Project title
Northern Traffic Lights – a digital pan-Nordic platform for road trafficability enabling resilient supply to green industries in a changing climate
Project manager at Linnaeus University
Johan Fransson
Other project members
The project is led by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Finland. From Linnaeus University, researchers specialising in remote sensing and data analysis are participating.
Participating organisations
Luke (project owner), Linnaeus University, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Luleå University of Technology, Skogforsk, University of Gothenburg, Chalmers University of Technology, University of Eastern Finland, Finnish Meteorological Institute, University of Oulu, Metsäkeskus, Creative Optimization Sweden AB
Funder
Interreg Aurora
Timetable
April 1, 2025 – March 31, 2028
Subject
Forestry and wood technology (Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Faculty of Technology)
Research groups
Forest Management, The Bridge
Knowledge Environment
Linnaeus Knowledge Environment: Green Sustainable Development
Website
https://www.luke.fi/en/projects/northern-traffic-lights
More about the project
Northern Traffic Lights aims to develop a digital decision-support system for monitoring and forecasting the trafficability of private gravel roads across the Nordic region. The project combines data from satellites, lidar, sensors, and vehicles to build models that predict road bearing capacity in near real time.
Climate change is increasing the frequency of freeze–thaw cycles, heavy rainfall, and unstable ground conditions, reducing the accessibility of forest roads that are critical for transport. At the same time, transport volumes are rising, increasing the need for efficient and reliable logistics.
The project develops:
- dynamic trafficability models
- a network of road weather stations
- a digital platform visualising road conditions using a traffic light system
The platform will support decision-making for transport planning, road maintenance, and logistics for forestry and other rural industries.
Linnaeus University contributes expertise in remote sensing, particularly in the analysis of radar satellite data, which is used to estimate soil moisture and improve trafficability modelling.
The project contributes to improved resource efficiency, reduced costs, and more resilient supply chains for the green economy.
The project is part of the research in the Forest Management research group, the collaboration The Bridge, and the Linnaeus Knowledge Environment Green Sustainable Development.
