The use of salt in the winter maintenance operations has both desired andundesired consequences. Many studies have been made regarding different environmental problems related to road salt. Most of the studies regarding salt damaged vegetation have however been concerned with the concentrationof sodium and chloride in plant tissue, an indicator not very useful for the road administrator. The main purpose of the environmental submodel of the Swedish Winter Model is to increase knowledge regarding the relationship between salting (amount, method, technique and timing) and the roadsideexposure at different distances. Given known or assumed dose-response relationships for certain types of vegetation, the damage can also be modelled. And, by setting a cost for this damage, at least parts of the environmental costs can be estimated. Since the model works in a high time-resolution (one hour) during the winter season, it can be used to test scenarios where for instance the maintenance regulations, the traffic composition or the climate have changed. For the covering abstract see ITRD E143097.
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