ISO 13473-2:2002

Overview

ISO 13473-2:2002 is an ISO terminology and requirements standard for the characterization of pavement texture by use of surface profiles. It defines the terms, expressions and parameters used in pavement texture profile analysis for roads, airport runways and taxiways. The standard establishes consistent vocabulary and basic requirements to support modelling of pavement-related performance such as tyre/road noise, tyre/road friction, rolling resistance and tyre wear. It addresses profile representations, spectral presentation requirements and measurement concepts while excluding machined-surface profile analysis and long-wavelength road unevenness.

Key topics and requirements

• Terms and definitions: Precise definitions for core concepts such as pavement texture, surface profile (texture profile), texture wavelength and profilometer.
• Texture ranges: Standardized wavelength bands and practical limits:
  • Microtexture: < 0.5 mm (one-third-octave bands up to 0.5 mm)
  • Macrotexture: 0.5 mm to 50 mm
  • Megatexture: 50 mm to 500 mm
  • Unevenness: 0.5 m to 50 m (outside texture scope)
• Macrotexture depth measures: Definitions and descriptions for texture depth, Mean Texture Depth (MTD) and profile-based measures such as Mean Profile Depth (MPD) (MPD = average profile depth over a 100 mm baseline).
• Profilometer concepts: Performance and terminology for sensors commonly used in pavement engineering (laser, light sectioning, needle tracer, ultrasonics).
• Spectrum analysis basics: Requirements for calculation and presentation of texture spectra, including spectral bandwidth, centre frequencies of spectral bands, and guidance consistent with octave/fractional-octave filtering (IEC 61260 referenced).
• Exclusions and cross-references: Clarifies that machined surface profile analysis and road unevenness are covered by other standards.

Applications

ISO 13473-2 supports:

• Pavement texture data interpretation for road and airfield surface design and maintenance.
• Input terminology and basic rules for noise modelling, friction and drainage analysis.
• Standardized reporting and profilometer specification in procurement and testing.
• Research and development in tyre–pavement interaction, acoustic emissions and surface engineering.

Who uses this standard

• Road authorities, airport operators and pavement engineers
• Acoustic and vehicle-dynamics researchers
• Material scientists and test laboratories
• Profilometer and instrumentation manufacturers
• Standards developers and consultants

Related standards

• ISO 13473-1 (Mean Profile Depth determination)
• ISO 13473-3 (Specification and classification of profilometers)
• ISO 3274, ISO 4287, ISO 4288, ISO 5436-1, ISO 12085 (machined surface/profile standards)
• ISO 8608 (road unevenness)
• IEC 61260 (octave-band and fractional-octave-band filters)

Keywords: ISO 13473-2, pavement texture, profilometer, macrotexture, microtexture, MPD, MTD, texture profile analysis, tyre/road noise, tyre/road friction.