SnowyLane: Robust Lane Detection on Snow-covered Rural Roads Using Infrastructural Elements

Lane detection for autonomous driving in snow-covered environments remains a major challenge due to the frequent absence or occlusion of lane markings. In this paper, we present a novel, robust and realtime capable approach that bypasses the reliance on traditional lane markings by detecting roadside features,specifically vertical roadside posts called delineators, as indirect lane indicators. Our method first perceives these posts, then fits a smooth lane trajectory using a parameterized Bezier curve model, leveraging spatial consistency and road geometry. To support training and evaluation in these challenging scenarios, we introduce SnowyLane, a new synthetic dataset containing 80,000 annotated frames capture winter driving conditions, with varying snow coverage, and lighting conditions. Compared to state-of-the-art lane detection systems, our approach demonstrates significantly improved robustness in adverse weather, particularly in cases with heavy snow occlusion. This work establishes a strong foundation for reliable lane detection in winter scenarios and contributes a valuable resource for future research in all-weather autonomous driving. The dataset is available at https://ekut-es.github.io/snowy-lane