Characterization of Transverse Profile

The Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) program currently being conducted by the Federal Highway Administration is collecting transverse profile data on each of the asphalt-surfaced test sections included in the study. These data have been collected since monitoring was begun on these sections in 1989. A study was undertaken to provide indexes that summarized these x-y profiles. A study was conducted to recommend profiles to be included in the LTPP database in which six indexes were recommended to be included in the National Information Management System (NIMS). These six indexes and how they relate to each other are examined in this paper.