Ultrasonic depth measurement apparatus and methods

• US 4,679,160 A
• Filed: 12/13/1984
• Issued: 07/07/1987
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/1984
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Surface Systems, Inc. (Trinity Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Surface Systems, Inc. (Trinity Industries Incorporated)
• Inventors: Whitener, Miles B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Krass, Errol A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G.
• Application Number:
  US06/681,602
• Time in Patent Office: 936 Days
• Field of Search: 364/563, 364/564, 73/632, 73/633, 73/615, 73/195, 73/149, 340/621, 340/618, 340/600
• US Class Current: 702/171
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 17/025 for measuring thickness of coating
• CPC Class Codes: G01W 1/14 Rainfall or precipitation gauges measuring volume in general G01F

Abstract

Apparatus for determining the depth of precipitation accumulating on the surface of a pathway, such as an airport runway or the like, includes a sensor having electrical transducer means for emitting and sensing ultrasonic energy and having a body of material adapted to be embedded in the pathway with the top surface of the body being substantially flush therewith and exposed to the precipitation, the transducer means being physically coupled to the body. A circuit causes the transducer means to emit pulses of ultrasonic energy, which are reflected as first and second reflections from the top surface of the body and from the upper surface of an accumulation of precipitation on the top surface of the body and are respectively returned to the transducer which, in response to the reflected pulses, produces corresponding first and second electrical signals. An amplifier is connected to the transducer means for amplifying the first and second electrical signals corresponding to the first and second reflections, thereby to produce an amplifier output. Another circuit is connected to the amplifier for initiating a first timing signal upon the occurrence of the first electrical signal. A further circuit compares the amplifier output with a threshold level which has a magnitude that decreases with time, the operation of the comparing circuit being started upon an occurrence of the first timing signal, the comparing circuit initiating a second timing signal when the amplifier output reaches the threshold level. Still another circuit in the apparatus generates a third electrical signal representing the depth of the precipitation as a function of the time interval between occurrences of the first and second timing signals. Other circuits and methods for depth and related measurements are also described.

Claims

1. Apparatus for determining the depth of precipitation accumulating on the surface of a pathyway, comprising:

a sensor having an electrical transducer for emitting and sensing ultrasonic energy and having a body of material for propagating the ultrasonic energy therethrough, which body is to be embedded in the pathway with the top surface of the body being substantially flush therewith and exposed to the precipitation, said transducer being physically coupled to the body;

means for supplying electrical pulses to said transducer to cause it to emit pulses of ultrasonic energy, which are reflected as first and second reflections from the top surface of the body and from the upper surface of an accumulation of precipitation on the top surface of the body and are respectively returned to said transducer which in response to the reflected pulses produces corresponding first and second electrical signals;

means connected to said transducer for amplifying the first and second electrical signals corresponding to the first and second reflections, thereby to produce an amplifier output;

means connected to said amplifying means for initiating a first timing signal upon the occurrence of the first electrical signal;

means for comparing the amplifier output with a threshold level which has a magnitude that decreases with time, the operation of said comparing means being started upon an occurrence of the first timing signal, the comparing means initiating a second timing signal when the amplifier output reaches the threshold level; and

means for generating a third electical signal representing the depth of the precipitation as a function of the time interval between occurrences of the first and second timing signals.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the first electrical signal corresponding to the first reflection is comprised of decaying oscillations and the comparing means comprises means for generating a decaying electrical signal upon the occurrence of the first timing signal, the decaying electrical signal decreasing to a magnitude greater than zero and thereby establishing the threshold level over time, and comparator means connected to said amplifying means and to said decaying electrical signal generating means for initiating the second timing signal when the amplifier output reaches the threshold level.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 further comprising means fed by the third electrical signal from the generating means for automatically adjusting the decaying electrical signal in magnitude so that the magnitude of the decaying electrical signal is maintained in excess of the magnitude of the decaying oscillations of the first electrical signal.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the comparing means comprises means for comparing the amplifier output with a threshold level which exponentially decays to a preestablished adjustable magnitude.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the comparing means comprises means for generating an exponentially decaying electrical signal upon the occurrence of the first timing signal, the exponentially decaying electrical signal decreasing to a magnitude greater than zero, and comparator means connected to said amplifying means and to said exponential electrical signal generating means.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said means for generating the exponentially decaying electrical signal comprises a capacitor, an adjustable resistor connected to the capacitor, an adjustable voltage source feeding the resistor for establishing the nonzero magnitude, and an electronic switch for connecting an initial voltage exceeding the magnitude greater than zero to the capacitor until the occurrence of the first timing signal, the capacitor thereupon discharging through the resistor, the voltage across the capacitor comprising the exponentially decaying electrical signal.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5 wherein said means for generating the exponentially decaying electrical signal comprises a set of capacitors, switching means responsive to a fourth electrical signal for selectively connecting said capacitors to each other to form a network having a value of capacitance represented by said fourth electrical signal, a digital-to-analog converter for establishing a value of the magnitude greater than zero in response to a fifth electrical signal, a resistor connected between the capacitor network and the digital-to-analog converter, and second switching means for coupling a voltage exceeding the magnitude greater than zero to the capacitor network until the occurrence of the first timing signal, the capacitor network thereupon discharging through the resistor to generate the exponentially decaying electrical signal.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 7 further comprising a digital circuit for producing the fourth and fifth electrical signals in digital form for the first-named switching means and the digital-to-analog converter, the first electrical signal being comprised of decaying oscillations and the digital circuit utilizing the third electrical signal from the generating means in automatically adjusting the fourth and fifth signals so that the magnitude over time of the exponentially decaying electrical signal is substantially conformed to and in excess of the magnitude over time of the decaying oscillations of the first electrical signal.

9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pulse supplying means comprises an oscillator electrically connected to said sensor and physically associated with said sensor so that said sensor and said oscillator can be embedded together in the pathway.

10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 9 wherein said pulse supplying means further comprises a temperature-sensitive electrical element connected to the oscillator for varying the frequency of the oscillator as a function of temperature.

11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first timing signal initiating means includes a one-shot multivibrator for producing the first timing signal as a pulse and means for enabling said one-shot multivibrator to respond to the first electrical signal in the amplifier output only during a predetermined time period when the first reflection is expected to occur following another predetermined time period subsequent to each of the electrical pulses from said pulse supplying means.

12. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein and said first timing signal initiating means includes second comparing means, and first, second and third one-shot multivibrators, the second comparing means triggering the first one-shot multivibrator to produce a third timing signal in response to each of the electrical pulses, said first one-shot multivibrator triggering said second one-shot multivibrator to produce a fourth timing signal at the conclusion of the third timing signal, said fourth timing signal occupying an interval in which the first electrical signal is expected to occur, said amplifier output and said fourth timing signal being coupled to said third one-shot multivibrator so that said first electrical signal triggers said third one-shot multivibrator to produce the first timing signal.

13. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said generating means includes means for producing clock pulses and means for counting the clock pulses, the counting being initiated by the first timing signal, terminated by the second timing signal and reset in response to each of the electrical pulses from said pulse supplying means, the third electrical signal being a parallel digital signal produced by the counting means when the counting is terminated by the second timing signal.

14. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further comprising means for periodically adjusting the degree of amplification provided by the amplifying means so that the peak value of the first electrical signal in the amplifier output is maintained substantially constant.

15. Apparatus as set forth in claim 14 wherein said adjusting means includes an electronic switch having a plurality of switch sections connected to said amplifying means so that the degree of amplification depends on which switch sections are closed, a counter coupled to the switch sections so that the switch sections are closed in different combinations depending on a value in said counter, said counter being incremented in response to successive ones of at least some of the electrical pulses so that the degree of amplification provided by said amplifying means is increased from a relatively low initial value, and means for holding the value provided by said counter when the peak value of the first electrical signal in the amplifier output first reaches a predetermined level.

16. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the first electrical signal has a peak value and the apparatus further comprises means for deriving a signal representing the peak value of the first electrical signal.

17. Apparatus as set forth in claim 16 further comprising means for comparing the signal representing the peak value of the first electrical signal with at least one other signal representing at least one predetermined value to identify the precipitation as ice or water.

18. Apparatus as set forth in claim 17 wherein said comparing means comprises means for also varying as a function of the repetition rate of the emitted pulses one of the signals so compared, to correct for temperature variations.

19. Apparatus as claimed in claim 17 wherein said comparing means comprises means for also generating a further signal indicating an abnormal condition when the temperature corresponding to a repetition rate of the emitted pulses is inconsistent with the ice-water identification.

20. Apparatus as claimed in claim 16 further comprising means for sensing a temperature of the precipitation and means for determining whether the signal representing the peak value of the first electrical signal is between first and second values indicative of liquid water and not ice and generating a signal indicating an additional precipitation condition when the peak value is between the first and second values and the temperature sensed is less than a temperature value inconsistent with liquid water.

21. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further comprising

means for accumulating respective totals of the number of times the third electrical signal represents a value of depth lying within each one of a series of depth intervals, and for computing precipitation depth as a function of the totals;

and

means for displaying the computed value of precipitation depth.

22. Apparatus as set forth in claim 21 further comprising means for holding a prestored set of respective totals of the number of times the third electrical signal represents a value of depth lying within each one of the series of depth intervals when the sensor is dry and noise has caused the comparing means to initiate the second timing signal in the absence of any second electrical signal corresponding to a second reflection, said accumulating and computing means comprising means for also correcting the set of accumulated totals with respect to the set of prestored totals and determining precipitation depth from the corrected totals.

23. Apparatus as set forth in claim 21 wherein said means for accumulating and computing comprises means for electronically summing products of at least some of the respective totals times numbers identifying the respective depth intervals to which the totals relate, and dividing by a summation of the totals to produce a signal representing a value proportional to precipitation depth.

24. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further comprising means for introducing noise into said amplifying means to increase the sensitivity of said initiating means and said comparing means.

25. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further comprising means for generating a signal representing a value of precipitation turbulence as a function of the ratio of the number of pulses emitted in a preestablished time period to the number of times that the third electrical signal has been produced in response to occurrences of the second reflection in the same time period.

26. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further comprising means for generating a signal representing a value of temperature as a function of the repetition rate of the emitted pulses.

27. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further comprising means coupled to said generating means for producing a signal representing a rate of change of precipitation depth.

28. Apparatus as set forth in claim 27 wherein said depth rate-of-change means comprises means for also accumulating a first set and subsequently accumulating a second set of respective totals of the number of times the third electrical signal represents a value of depth lying within each one of a series of depth intervals, and for computing the rate of change of precipitation depth as a function of the totals in the first and second sets.

29. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further comprising means coupled to said generating means for producing a signal representing a rate of change of precipitation depth and an additional signal representing an estimated time when the precipitation depth will become nil, as a function of the depth and the rate of change of depth when the depth is decreasing.

30. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further comprising means coupled to said generating means for producing a signal representing a rate of change of precipitation depth and an additional signal representing an estimated time when the precipitation depth will reach a predetermined depth value, as a function of the depth and the rate of change of depth.

31. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising means for counting the respective number of times the third electrical signal represents a depth value lying within any one of a plurality of ranges thereby to produce a set of counts comprising a histogram of the third electrical signal, for filtering the histogram of the precipitation depth signal with a second histogram comprising a set of prestored counts to obtain a further set of values including a maximum value, and for determining the precipitation depth by a proceduure utilizing at least the maximum value.

32. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for generating a third electrical signal representing the depth of the precipitation includes means for determining whether the precipitation is ice and for correcting the depth represented by the third electrical signal when the precipitation is ice.

33. Apparatus for determining the depth of precipitation accumulating on the surface of a pathway, comprising:

a sensor having an electrical transducer for emitting and sensing ultrasonic energy and having a body of material for propagating the ultrasonic energy therethrough, which body is to be embedded in the pathway with the top surface of the body being substantially flush therewith and exposed to the precipitation, said transducer being physically coupled to the body;

means for supplying electrical pulses to said transducer to cause it to emit pulses of ultrasonic energy, which are reflected as first and second reflections from the top surface of the body and from the upper surface of an accumulation of precipitation on the top surface of the body and are respectively returned to said transducer which in response to the reflected pulses produces corresponding first and second electrical signals;

means connected to said transducer for amplifying the first and second electrical signals corresponding to the first and second reflections, thereby to produce an amplifier output;

means for genrating a third electrical signal representing the depth of the precipitation as a function of the time interval between occurrences of the first and second electrical signals; and

means for periodically adjusting the degree of amplication provided by the amplifying means so that the peak value of the first electrical signal in the amplifier output is maintained substantially constant and for producing a fourth electrical signal representing the peak value prior to amplification of the first electrical signal from said transducer.

34. Apparatus as set forth in claim 33 further comprising first means for comparing the amplifier output with a first threshold level when the degree of amplification is being adjusted, and for comparing the amplifier output with a second threshold level which is lower in magnitude than the first threshold level after the degree of amplification has been adjusted, the first comparing means producing a first timing signal upon the occurrence of the first electrical signal, and second means for comparing the amplifier output with a third threshold level, the comparing operation of said second comparing means being started upon an occurrence of the first timing signal, the second comparing means initiating a second timing signal when the amplifier output reaches the third threshold level, said generating means comprising means for generating the third electrical signal as a function of the time interval between occurrences of the first and second timing signals.

35. Apparatus as set forth in claim 33 wherein said adjusting and producing means includes means for adjusting the degree of amplification in discrete steps and means for producing the fourth electrical signal as a parallel digital signal representing each step reached by said adjusting means at any given time.

36. Apparatus as set forth in claim 33 further comprising means for comparing the fourth electrical signal representing the peak value of the first electrical signal with at least one other signal representing at least one predetermined value to identify the precipitation as ice or water.

37. Apparatus as set forth in claim 33 wherein said adjusting and producing means includes an electronic switch having a plurality of switch sections connected to said amplifying means so that the degree of amplification depends on which switch sections are closed, a counter coupled to the switch sections so that the switch sections are closed in different combinations depending on a value in said counter, said counter being incremented in response to successive ones of at least some of the electrical pulses from said pulse supplying means so that the degree of amplification provided by said amplifying means is increased from a relatively low initial value, and means for holding the value provided by said counter when the peak value of the first electrical signal in the amplifier output first reaches a predetermined level.

38. Apparatus as set forth in claim 33 further comprising

means for accumulating respective totals of the number of times the third electrical signal represents a value of depth lying within each one of a series of depth intervals, and for computing precipitation depth as a function of the totals;

and

means for displaying the computed value of precipitation depth.

39. Apparatus for determining the depth of precipitation accumulating on the surface of a pathway, comprising:

a sensor having an electrical transducer for emitting and sensing ultrasonic energy and having a body of material for propagating the ultrasonic energy therethrough, which body is to be embedded in the pathway with the top surface of the body being substantially flush therewith and exposed to the precipitation, said transducer being physically coupled to the body;

means for supplying electrical pulses to said transducer to cause it to emit pulses of ultrasonic energy, which are reflected as first and second reflections from the top surface of the body and from the upper surface of an accumulation of precipitation on the top surface of the body and are respectively returned to said transducer which in response to the reflected pulses produce corresponding first and second electrical signals;

means for generating a third electrical signal representing the depth of the precipitation as a function of the time interval between occurrences of the first and second electrical signals;

means for accumulating respective totals of the number of times the third electrical signal represents a value of depth lying within each one of a series of depth intervals, and for computing precipitation depth as a function of the totals; and

means for displaying the computed value of precipitation depth.

40. Apparatus as set forth in claim 39 wherein said generating means includes means for producing clock pulses and means for counting the clock pulses, the counting being initiated in response to the first electrical signal, terminated in response to the second electrical signal and reset in response to each of the electrical pulses from said pulse supplying means, the counting means producing the third electrical signal in the form of a parallel digtial signal representing a succession of binary numbers designating the depth intervals.

41. Apparatus as set forth in claim 40 wherein said accumulating and computing means includes a memory having areas designated by addresses for holding the totals, and also includes a digital computer which is connected to said counting means for incrementing the total in the respective area of said memory means having an address corresponding to the binary number represented at any given time by the parallel digital signal from said counting means.

42. Apparatus as set forth in claim 39 wherein said accumulating and computing means comprises means for also holding a prestored set of respective totals of the number of times the third electrical signal as a result of noise represents a value of depth lying within each one of the series of depth intervals when the sensor is dry, and for also correcting the set of accumulated totals with respect to the prestored set and determining precipitation depth from the corrected totals.

43. Apparatus as set forth in claim 39 wherein said means for accumulating and computing comprises means for also electronically summing products of at least some of the respective totals times numbers identifying the respective depth intervals to which the totals relate, and dividing by a summation of the totals to produce a signal representing a value proportional to precipitation depth.

44. Apparatus as set forth in claim 39 further comprising means for introducing noise into said generating means to cause the third electrical signal as a result of noise to represent values of depth lying within at least some of the depth intervals even when the sensor is dry.

45. Apparatus as set forth in claim 39 wherein said accumulating and computing means comprises means for also generating a signal representing a value of precipitation turbulence as a function of the ratio of the number of pulses emitted in a preestablished time period to the number of times that the third electrical signal has been produced in response to occurrences of the second reflection in the same time period.

46. Apparatus as set forth in claim 39 wherein said generating means includes means connected to said transducer for amplifying the first and second electrical signals corresponding to the first and second reflections, thereby to produce an amplifier output, and means for comparing the amplifier output with a threshold level to produce a timing signal, said accumulating and computing means including a digital computer having at least one interrupt input to which the timing signal is coupled.

47. Apparatus as set forth in claim 39 wherein said accumulating and computing means comprises means coupled to said generating means for also producing a signal representing a rate of change of precipitation depth.

48. Apparatus as set forth in claim 39 wherein said accumulating and computing means comprises means for also subsequently accumulating a second set of respective totals of the number of times the third electrical signal represents a value of depth lying within each one of the series of depth intervals, and for also computing a rate of change of precipitation depth as a function of the first-named totals and of the totals in the second set.

49. Apparatus as set forth in claim 39 wherein said accumulating and computing means comprises means coupled to said generating means for also producing a signal representing a rate of change of precipitation depth and an additional signal representing an estimated time when the precipitation depth will become nil, as a function of the depth and the rate of change of depth when the depth is decreasing.

50. Apparatus as set forth in claim 39 wherein said accumulating and computing means comprises means coupled to said generating means for also producing a signal representing a rate of change of precipitation depth and an additional signal representing an estimated time when the precipitation depth will reach a predetermined depth value, as a function of the depth and the rate of change of depth.

51. A method for determining the depth of precipitation accumulating on the surface of a pathway, with a sensor having an ultrasonic transducer physcially coupled to a body of material for propagating ultrasonic energy therethrough, the body having a top surface, the method comprising the steps of:

embedding the body of material and the ultrasonic transducer in the pathway with the top surface of the body being substnatially flush therewith and exposed to the precipitation;

supplying electrical pulses to the ultrasonic transducer to cause it to emit pulses of ultrasonic energy, which are reflected as first and second reflections from the top surface of the body and from the upper surface of an accumulation of precipitation on the top surface of the body and are respectively returned to the transducer which in response to the reflected pulses produces corresponding first and second electrical signals;

generating a third electrical signal representing the depth ofthe precipitation as a function of the time interval between occurences of the first and second electrical signals;

accumulating respective totals of the number of times the third electrical signal represents a value of depth lying within each one of a series of depth intervals;

computing precipitation depth as a function of the totals; and

displaying the computed value of precipitation depth.

52. A method as set forth in claim 51 further comprising the steps of:

holding a prestored set of respective totals of the number of times the third electrical signal, as a result of noise, represents a value of depth lying within each one of the series of depth intervals when the sensor is dry; and

correcting the accumulated totals with respect to the set of prestored totals.

53. A method as set forth in claim 51 wherein said computing step comprises electronically summing products of at least some of the respective totals times numbers identifying the respective depth intervals to which the totals relate, and dividing by a summation of the totals to produce a signal representing a value proportional to precipitation depth.

54. A method as set forth in claim 51 further comprising the step of causing said third electrical signal to represent values of depth lying within at least some of the depth intervals even when the sensor is dry.

55. Apparatus as set forth in claim 51 further comprising the step of generating a signal representing a value of precipitation turbulence as a function of the ratio of the number of pulses emitted in a preestablished time period to the number of times that the third electrical signal has been produced in response to occurrences of the second reflection in the same time period.

56. A method as set forth in claim 51 further comprising the step of generating a signal representing a value of temperature as a function of the repetition rate of the emitted pulses.

57. A method as set forth in claim 51 further comprising the step of also producing a signal representing a rate of change of precipitation depth as a function of the totals.

58. A method as set forth in claim 57 wherein said depth rate-of-change step comprises the steps of subsequently accumulating a second set of respective totals of the number of times the third electrical signal represents a value of depth lying within each one of the series of depth intervals, and computing the rate of change of precipitation depth as a function of the accumulated totals and the second set of totals.

59. A method as set forth in claim 51 further comprising the step of producing a signal representing a rate of change of precipitation depth and an additional signal representing an estimated time when the precipitation depth will become nil, as a function of the depth and the rate of change of depth when the depth is decreasing.

60. A method as set forth in claim 51 further comprising the step of producing a signal representing a rate of change of precipitation depth and an additional signal representing an estimated time when the precipitation depth will reach a predetermined depth value, as a function of the depth and the rate of change of depth.

61. Apparatus for determining the depth of precipitation accumulating on the surface of a pathway, comprising:

a sensor having an electrical transducer for emitting and sensing ultrasonic energy and having a body of material for propagating the ultrasonic energy therethrough, which body is to be embedded in the pathway with the top surface of the body being substantially flush therewith and exposed to the precipitation, said transducer being physically coupled to the body;

means for supplying electrical pulses to said transducer to cause it to emit pulses of ultrasonic energy, which are reflected as a plurality of reflections from the top surface of the body and from the upper surface of an accumulation of precipitation on the top surface of the body and are respectively returned to said transducer which in response to the reflected pulses produces corresponding electrical signals;

means for generating a third electrical signal representing the depth of the precipitation as a function of the time interval between occurrences of at least two of the electrical signals;

means for accumulating respective totals of the number of times the third electrical signal represents a value of depth lying within each one of a series of depth intervals, and for computing precipitation depth as a function of the totals, and

means for displaying the computed value of precipitation depth.

62. Apparatus for determining the depth of precipitation accumulating on the surface of a pathway, comprising:

a sensor having an electrical transducer for emitting and sensing ultransonic energy and having a body of material for propagating the ultrasonic energy therethrough, which body is to be embedded in the pathway with the top surface of the body being substantially flush therewith and exposed to the precipitation, said transducer being physically coupled to the body;

means for supplying electrical pulses to said transducer to cause it to emit pulses of ultrasonic energy which are reflected as first and second reflections from the top surface of the body and from the upper surface of an accumulation of precipitation on the top surface of the body and are respectively returned to said transducer which, in response to the reflected pulses, produces corresponding first and second electrical signals, said pulse supplying means including an oscillator electrically connected to said transducer and a temperature-sensitive electrical element connected to said oscillator for varying the frequency of said oscillator as a function of temperature, said oscillator and temperature-sensitive element being physically associated with said sensor so that said sensor, said oscillator and said temperature-sensitive element can be embedded together in the pathway; and

means for generating a third electrical signal representing the depth of the precipitation as a function of the time interval between occurrences of the first and second electrical signals and for generating a fourth electrical signal representing the temperature as a function of the frequency of said oscillator.

63. Apparatus as claimed in claim 62 wherein said generating means includes means for determining from the frequency of said oscillator whether the precipitation is ice and for correcting the depth represented by the third electrical singal when the precipitation is ice.

64. Apparatus for determining the depth of precipitation accumulating on the surface of a pathway, comprising:

a sensor having an electrical transducer for emitting and sensing ultrasonic energy and having a body of material for propagating the ultrasonic energy therethrough, which body is to be embedded in the pathway with the top surface of the body being substantially flush therewith and exposed to the precipitation, said transducer being physically coupled to the body;

means for supplying electrical pulses to said transducer to cause it to emit pulses of ultrasonic energy which are reflected as first and second reflections from the top surface of the body and from the upper surface of an accumulation of precipitation on the top surface of the body and are respectively returned to said transducer which, in response to the reflected pulses, produces corresponding first and second electrical signals, wherein the first electrical signal has a peak value;

means for deriving another electrical signal representing the peak value of the first electrical signal; and

means for generating an additional electrical signal representing the depth of the precipitation as a function of both the time interval between occurrences of the first and second electrical signals and the peak value represented by the electrical signal from said deriving means.

65. Apparatus as claimed in claim 64 wherein said generating means includes means for comparing the peak value represented by the electrical signal from said deriving means with a predetermined value to determine whether the precipitation is ice.

66. Apparatus as claimed in claim 64 further comprising means for sensing tenperature of said precipitation and wherein said generating means includes means for determining whether the peak value represented by the signal from said deriving means is between first and second values indicative of liquid water and not ice and producing a signal indicating an additional precipitation condition when the peak value is between the first and second values and the temperature sensed is less than a temperature value inconsistent with liquid water.

67. Apparatus as claimed in claim 64 wherein said generating means includes means for producing a further electrical signal representing a temperature of said precipitation as a function of the repetition rate of the emitted pulses.

68. Apparatus for determining the depth of precipitation accumulating on the surface of a pathway, comprising:

a sensor having an electrical transducer for emitting and sensing ultrasonic energy and having a body of material for propagating the ultrasonic energy therethrough, which body is to be embedded in the pathway with the top surface of the body being substantially flush therewith and exposed to the precipitation, said transducer being physically coupled to the body;

means for supplying electrical pulses to said transducer to cause it to emit pulses of ultransonic energy which are reflected as first and second reflections from the top surface of the body and from the upper surface of an accumulation of precipitation on the top surface of the body and are respectively returned to said transducer which, in response to the reflected pulses, produces corresponding first and second electrical signals;

means for generating a third electrical signal representing the depth of the precipitation as a function of the time interval between occurrences of the first and second electrical signals; and

means connected to said generating means and responsive to said third electrical signal for producing a signal representing a rate of change of precipitation depth.

69. Apparatus as set forth in claim 68 wherein said rate of change means also comprises means for producing and additional signal representing an estimated time when the precipitation depth will reach a predetermined depth value from said signals representing the depth and the rate of change of depth of the precipitation.

70. Apparatus as set forth in claim 68 wherein said rate-of-change means also comprises means for accumulating a first set and subsequently accumulating a second set of respective totals of the number of times the third electrical signal represents a value of depth lying within each one of a series of depth intervals, and for computing the rate of change of precipitation depth as a function of the totals in the first and second sets.