Apple iPod Touch Relevance to Military 

Weather Applications 

by David Sauter 

ARL-TR-5376 October 2010 

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
NOTICES 

Disclaimers 

The findings in this report are not to be construed as an official Department of the Army position unless 

so designated by other authorized documents. 

Citation of manufacturer’s or trade names does not constitute an official endorsement or approval of the 

use thereof. 

Destroy this report when it is no longer needed. Do not return it to the originator.
Army Research Laboratory 

White Sands Missile Range, NM 88002-5501 

ARL-TR-5376 October 2010 

Apple iPod Touch Relevance to Military 

Weather Applications 

David Sauter 

Computational and Information Sciences Directorate, ARL 

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
ii 

REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved 

OMB No. 0704-0188

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering 

and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, 

including suggestions for reducing the burden, to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports (0704-0188), 1215 Jefferson 

Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to 

comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. 

PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. 

1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY)

October 2010 

2. REPORT TYPE 

Final 

3. DATES COVERED (From - To) 

October 2009−June 2010 

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 

Apple iPod Touch Relevance to Military Weather Applications 

5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 

5b. GRANT NUMBER 

5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 

6. AUTHOR(S) 

David Sauter 

5d. PROJECT NUMBER 

5e. TASK NUMBER 

5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 

7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 

U.S. Army Research Laboratory 

Battlefield Environment Division 

Computational and Information Sciences Directorate (ATTN: RDRL-CIE-M) 

White Sands Missile Range, NM 88002-5501

8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION 

 REPORT NUMBER 

ARL-TR-5376 

9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S ACRONYM(S) 

11. SPONSOR/MONITOR'S REPORT 

 NUMBER(S) 

12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT 

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. 

13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 

14. ABSTRACT 

Mobile computing devices can provide invaluable information to dismounted Soldiers on the battlefield when desktop or laptop 

computers are not readily available. This report summarizes the usefulness of Apple iPod Touch devices for providing weather 

and weather effects information to the lower echelons. Both connected (to a remote computer) and standalone (not connected) 

applications (apps) are investigated. 

15. SUBJECT TERMS

mobile computing, handheld devices, weather effects 

16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 

17. LIMITATION 

OF ABSTRACT 

UU 

18. NUMBER 

 OF PAGES 

26 

19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON

David Sauter 

a. REPORT 

Unclassified 

b. ABSTRACT 

Unclassified 

c. THIS PAGE 

Unclassified 

19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (Include area code) 

(575) 678-2078 

Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8/98) 

Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18 
iii 

Contents 

List of Figures v

Acknowledgments vi

1. Summary 1

2. Introduction 1

3. Development Environment 2

4. Considerations for Military Use 3

4.1 Advantages ......................................................................................................................3

4.1.1 Low Cost .............................................................................................................3

4.1.2 Soldier Familiarity ...............................................................................................3

4.1.3 Large Storage Space ............................................................................................3

4.2 Disadvantages ..................................................................................................................4

4.2.1 Lack of Secure and Long-range Wireless Communications ...............................4

4.2.2 Built-in Rechargeable Battery .............................................................................4

4.2.3 Apps Portability ...................................................................................................4

5. Prototype App 5

5.1 Launch Screen .................................................................................................................5

5.2 Site View .........................................................................................................................6

5.3 Weather View ..................................................................................................................8

5.4 Soldier View ....................................................................................................................8

5.5 Clothing View ...............................................................................................................10

5.6 Output View ..................................................................................................................11

5.7 Info View .......................................................................................................................12

6. Browser Capability 13

7. Relational Database 15

8. Conclusions 15
iv 

List of Symbols, Abbreviations, and Acronyms 16

Distribution 17 
v 

List of Figures 

Figure 1. Launch screen. .............................................................................................................................. 6

Figure 2. Site view. ...................................................................................................................................... 7

Figure 3. Weather view. ............................................................................................................................... 8

Figure 4. Soldier view. ................................................................................................................................. 9

Figure 5. More tab. ..................................................................................................................................... 10

Figure 6. Clothing view. ............................................................................................................................ 11

Figure 7. Output view. ............................................................................................................................... 12

Figure 8. Info view. .................................................................................................................................... 13

Figure 9. Heat stress browser. .................................................................................................................... 14

Figure 10. Heat stress browser zoomed in. ................................................................................................ 14
vi 

Acknowledgments 

The author would like to acknowledge Dr. Bill Santee and Ms. Laurie Blanchard of the U.S. 

Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) (Natick, MA) for their 

contributions to the development of portions of the mobile heat stress application (“app”) 

referenced in this report. 
1 

1. Summary 

Apple iPod Touch (and iPhone) devices provide a mobile, powerful, versatile, and relatively 

inexpensive computing platform that is potentially well-suited for use by the military. 

Applications (“apps”) are relatively easy to develop and deploy for tailored military use. An 

additional benefit is that many of today’s Soldiers are already familiar with the operation of the 

device so little training is required. On the downside, licensing and provisioning profile issues 

required for development and distribution are frustrating and create an inefficient and 

cumbersome environment for app evaluation. In addition, the apps developed can only be run on 

Apple devices as opposed to open source apps (e.g., for the Android devices) which have a large 

number of potential hosting platforms. This report will discuss the iPod Touch capabilities as 

relevant to the military for providing weather and weather impacts. An actual app that has been 

developed to provide heat stress guidance will be examined. 

2. Introduction 

There are situations in which Soldiers do not have access to computer workstations or even 

laptops but still require intelligence regarding weather and weather impacts on their missions. In 

these events, handheld computing devices may be able to provide critical information with only 

simple locally available inputs (negating the requirement for a network connection). While there 

are numerous mobile computing device platforms that could provide this information (e.g., 

personal digital assistants [PDAs], smartphones, Apple iPhones and iPod Touch devices, etc.), 

this report will focus on the Apple iPod Touch. Sauter1 specifically discusses PDA capabilities 

and apps. 

In 2009, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Battlefield Environment Division was 

requested to support the Army sponsored All American Bowl (AAB) high technology exhibit in 

San Antonio in January 2010. Although existing apps existed on the PDA (including the fielded 

Mobile Artillery Meteorological application [“app”]), it was felt that demonstrating an app on the 

fairly new and very popular Apple iPhone or iPod Touch would generate additional interest from 

both the military and the general public (the AAB exhibits were open to the public). Thus, the 

prototype Mobile Heat Stress Decision Aid (MHSDA) developed in conjunction with the U.S. 

Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) at Natick, MA, was selected 

as a test app to host on the Apple iPod Touch. The touch device is similar to the iPhone, except 

it lacks the cell phone and camera capabilities. Hosting on the iPod Touch would provide insight 

 1

Sauter, D. Portable Weather Intelligence for the Soldier; ARL-TR-4502; U.S. Army Research Laboratory: White Sands 

Missile Range, NM, 2008. 
2 

as to the Apple development environment, graphical user interface (GUI), computing 

capabilities, etc., that were previously unknown and allow us to determine the potential of the 

device for military app. 

3. Development Environment 

In order to develop iPhone or iPod Touch apps (simply referred to as apps from here on), an 

Intel-based Macintosh (desktop or laptop) is required, running Leopard (OS X 10.4.11 or later). 

The development is then done via the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK), downloaded for 

free once the user becomes a registered iPhone developer. The SDK includes Xcode, which is 

Apple’s integrated development environment (IDE). Xcode features a compiler, debugger, text 

editor, and GUI builder. An actual iPhone or iPod Touch device is not needed for the 

development and testing (unless using one of the hardware-dependent features, such as the 

accelerometer or camera) as the SDK includes a simulator, which runs on the desktop or laptop. 

Programming for the devices is written in the Objective-C language which is an object-oriented 

language. Obviously, the final testing and deployment will require an actual iPhone or iPod 

Touch in addition to the purchase of an annual development license. 

For development, two iPod Touch 32 GB (flash memory) devices (third generation) were 

procured, as well as a Macbook. The iPod Touch is a capable computing device for its size, 

which is evident by the following features: 

• 3.5-in widescreen Multi-Touch display with 480 × 320 pixel resolution 

• 2.4 × 0.3 ×4.3-in and 4-oz weight 

• Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless communication 

• Safari web browser 

• Location-based services via Wi-Fi 

• Integrated speaker 

• Accelerometer 

• 256 MB RAM and 800 MHz processor 

Although the processor speed and amount of RAM available are certainly more than adequate for 

simple weather apps, there are considerations that must be accounted for when designing the 

software. The primary issue has to do with the screen size and the fact that all screen input is via 

a user’s finger tips. Thus, in designing the GUI, care must be taken regarding the size of input 

fields. Also, output screens must not contain too much information or too small of a font. 
3 

One major drawback with the Apple development and deployment process for the iPod Touch is 

the requirement for obtaining a developer license and provisioning profile. Although the license 

is valid for a year ($100), the provisioning profile (necessary for deploying apps to the remote 

device) expires every 3 months, forcing one to request a new profile, download to the Macbook 

and then rebuild and deploy the apps to the iPod Touch. In terms of supporting app evaluation at 

remote sites, this is an unacceptable process as it necessitates the return of each device to the 

developer. 

4. Considerations for Military Use 

There are a number of advantages in developing and deploying apps on the Apple iPod Touch 

devices, as described in section 4.1. Disadvantages for apps on the Apple iPod Touch are 

mentioned in section 4.2. 

4.1 Advantages 

4.1.1 Low Cost 

A new 32 GB iPod can be purchased for less than $300. Compared to mobile devices that may 

be custom designed and developed for military operations, this is a very reasonable cost. 

Although these devices may not be as ruggedized as other devices currently in use by the 

military, it would seem that the low cost per unit justifies their use. Due to their light weight and 

size, they logistically have a small footprint, and it seems logical that spares could be readily 

available. 

4.1.2 Soldier Familiarity 

It is likely that a significant percentage of Soldiers (especially new recruits) are familiar with the 

use of iPod Touch devices and their operation. This translates into reduced training costs. Also, 

being familiar with the devices means that the Warfighter is more likely to use the device and 

associated apps. 

4.1.3 Large Storage Space 

The iPod Touch can be purchased with up to 64 GB of memory and this amount will probably 

increase in the future. This amount of storage provides the capability to store large weatherrelated gridded databases, satellite imagery, and even video. Gridded weather or weather effects 

databases can be used to provide high resolution (both spatially and temporally) input data 

required by some weather-related apps. 
4 

4.2 Disadvantages 

4.2.1 Lack of Secure and Long-range Wireless Communications 

The effective range for Bluetooth communications is on the order of several meters while Wi-Fi 

(in an open environment) may be several hundred meters to up to a few kilometers. This is 

obviously not sufficient for military communications back to a remote server, which may be tens 

of (or more) kilometers away. Thus, receiving and transmitting critical information is a concern. 

This can be mitigated to some extent by developing apps that only require simple locally entered 

weather inputs (or possibly using one of the available high quality handheld weather sensors). 

Or, in the case of apps that require more complex input (e.g., high resolution gridded data) it may 

be possible to download an entire database of weather or weather effects information to the 

device while at the garrison or tactical operations center (TOC) for use during the day. Ideally, 

however, there will eventually be longer range secure wireless communication capabilities. Note 

that this is also a shortcoming of PDAs and Android smartphones without cellular service as 

well. 

4.2.2 Built-in Rechargeable Battery 

The iPod Touch has a built-in lithium-ion battery that cannot be replaced by the user, thus, spare 

batteries cannot be carried. This necessitates access to AC power or a secondary device with a 

USB port for recharging of the device after 5−10 hours of continuous use (dependant on what 

type of activity is being performed). Miniature fuel cells may provide a partial solution to 

remote charging in the near future. Also, if there is only sporadic use of the device, a single 

charge can last for many days of operations. In a tactical environment, however, it is likely 

unacceptable to be forced to send the device back to an Apple authorized dealer every time a 

battery needs to be replaced. 

4.2.3 Apps Portability 

Apps developed and hosted on the iPod Touch (and iPhone) are written in the C language and 

use graphics as provided for via the interface builder. Thus, these apps are not portable to other 

mobile devices, such as PDAs and smart phones, without rewriting at least portions of the code. 

In fairness, this is also true for non-Java apps written for PDAs. The Android IDE is Java-based 

so those apps should be more portable. 
5 

5. Prototype App 

Attesting to the relative ease in learning the iPhone SDK, a prototype MHSDA was ported from 

a PDA implementation in 2−3 months. This involved a complete rewrite of the GUI from the 

Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC) to the iPod using the interface builder. While not difficult, 

it did require the majority of the time due to starting from scratch with different GUI elements 

(to a certain extent) and the “callbacks” to the computational algorithms. Additional effort was 

required related to learning the IDE, making minor modifications to the C algorithms and the 

licensing and provisioning profile procedures. Fortunately, there were no issues in switching 

from the iPod simulator environment to the actual iPod Touches once the license was obtained. 

The MHSDA app was developed initially to address the issue of heat stress injuries in the 

military. Carter2 indicated that annually, there are over 200 injuries requiring hospitalization 

from heat stress resulting in an average of almost two deaths. Thus, the rationale is justified for 

developing such an app and making it available on a mobile device. Current plans are to initiate 

testing and evaluation in FY11 as the next step in the transition of the technology to the 

Warfighter. Figures 1−8 show the various input and output screens with a discussion of the 

various GUI elements and potential future enhancements. 

5.1 Launch Screen 

Figure 1 shows the initial screen that is displayed upon startup of the device. Each app is 

represented by an icon. Simply tapping the icon with your fingertip launches that app. The 

MHSDA app is the far right icon in the fourth row from the top. The bottom-most row 

represents the user’s favorite apps. Only one app can run at a time. 

 2

 Carter, et.al. Epidemiology of Hospitalizations and Deaths from Heat Illness in Soldiers. Medicine & Science in Sports & 

Exercise 2005, 37 (8), 1338−1344. 
6 

Figure 1. Launch screen. 

5.2 Site View 

Figure 2 shows the Site view, which is the first screen (known as a “view”) of the app that is 

displayed upon tapping the app icon. The MHSDA app is a multi-view app with a tab bar 

(bottom of screen). The user enters the required inputs (default values always available) by 

tabbing through the various views and selecting the fields that the Soldier wishes to modify. 

Upon exit, default values displayed are set to the values that were last entered via data 

persistence. Text field inputs (latitude, longitude and elevation fields), labels (Latitude, etc.), 

segmented controls (latitude and longitude hemisphere fields) and a date picker view (aka 

picker) GUI elements are all used in this view. A picker functions by the user spinning the 

wheel vertically for each of the selection item(s) until the value of his or her choice is aligned 

with the shaded center horizontal bar. The date/time defaults to the current device time as 

initially set up by the user. 
7 

Figure 2. Site view. 

Unfortunately, Apple does not provide a virtual numeric keyboard that allows for the entry of 

only numbers and the decimal point (‘.’) character, thus the full QWERTY virtual keyboard pops 

up when the user taps in the latitude and longitude fields, forcing additional screen taps. 

However, entries are restricted to numbers and the “.” Character. A numeric-only keypad pops 

up for the elevation field, as this field only requires integer entries. A unique feature of the 

iPhone and iPod Touch devices (due to its internal accelerometer) is the capability to undo 

typing in an entry field by simply shaking the device. Upon doing so while the focus is in an 

entry field, the user will be prompted as to whether to undo the current entry or cancel. 

The location service (based on the Wi-Fi capability) can be used (if turned on) to try and 

approximate the latitude and longitude of the device. It is possible for Wi-Fi access point 

administrators to register the coordinates of the access point. After doing so, the Apple devices 

can read these coordinates and use them in apps. This capability was not coded into the current 

app for the primary reason that it is unlikely that there will be access to Wi-Fi hotspots in a 

tactical environment. Also, having the location service turned on uses additional power in the 

devices. If desired, this service could be added such that an attempt could be made to 

automatically fill in the latitude and longitude fields. 
8 

5.3 Weather View 

The next view in the sequence of tabs is the Weather view, as shown in figure 3. This view is 

used to input local weather conditions. As with the Site view, this view consists of segmented 

controls, labels, a text field and a sky picker. Note that the wind and humidity entries are simple 

categorical inputs as opposed to quantitative values. The rationale for this was to keep the app as 

simple as possible and one that could be run by a layman with no meteorological expertise and 

no weather instrumentation. Handheld weather sensors are available on the market today, 

however, and it would be straightforward to modify this (and other views) to allow entry of 

quantitative values (e.g., for the current temperature field). 

Figure 3. Weather view. 

5.4 Soldier View 

Next is the Soldier view, shown in figure 4, which is used to input specific details about the 

Soldier’s physical size, days of acclimatization (how many days the Soldier has resided in the 

current locale) and his or her work rate. Obviously the higher the work rate, the higher the 

probability of heat stress injury will be, all other inputs being the same. Note that segmented 

controls can be utilized to allow the user to set a unit associated with an entry. Since the app 

stores (persists) the user entries from one session to another (even if the device is turned off), it is 

likely that some of the data (such as Soldier weight, height and days of acclimatization) will only 

need to be entered a single time. 
9 

Figure 4. Soldier view. 

There is one notable difference between the Apple tabbed view and that of Windows Mobile 

devices (e.g., PDAs). Instead of having a “More” entry to indicate additional views, Windows 

Mobile devices have right or left arrows to indicate additional choices. Upon tapping either 

arrow, additional tabs will show up at the bottom of the screen. However, in the Apple 

environment, selecting the “More” tab simple opens a new view with a table listing of the 

additional views (see figure 5) that can then be tapped. The Windows Mobile paradigm seems 

more consistent. 
10 

Figure 5. More tab. 

5.5 Clothing View 

The Clothing view, shown in figure 6, allows the user to select one of over a dozen clothing 

choices from a picker. As the descriptions can be rather lengthy, only an abbreviated description 

may be displayed in the picker. However, once selected, a detailed description automatically is 

shown in a read-only text view below the picker. Clothing parameters have been provided by the 

USARIEM and are derived from experimental testing on an instrumented manikin. 
11 

Figure 6. Clothing view. 

Adding GUI elements to the view(s) is as simple as dragging and dropping elements from the 

Interface Builder window and then configuring items, such as its size and position in the parent 

view, font size and style, default value, etc. Outlet(s) (a special kind of instance variable) are 

then assigned to any input variable(s) (e.g., the clothing choice as selected by the user) so that the 

computational algorithm has access to the user inputs. This is part of the Model-View-Controller 

(MVC) paradigm of programming in which these three different functions of the program are 

kept separate. In this manner, maintenance of the code is much easier. Thus, if something in the 

View module needs to be modified, it can be done independent of the other modules. This 

ensures reusability of code as well. 

5.6 Output View 

After completing input for all desired parameters, the user can then select the More tab. Upon 

doing so, a new view appears that lists two additional views that may be selected. One of these 

views is the Output view. This contains the heat stress output parameters as seen in figure 7. 

These values are computed based on the user selected inputs via the previous views. The 

computation and display is instantaneous. Output text fields in this view are read-only (i.e., the 

user cannot modify the values by tapping those GUI elements). As seen, output variables are 

extensive and provide useful guidance to the user. The Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) 
12 

represents an estimate of the WBGT, which is a legacy parameter that has been used by the 

Army for many years to estimate heat stress susceptibility. 

Figure 7. Output view. 

The Probability of Heat Stress Injury represents an estimate of the heat stress injury probability if 

the work/rest cycle, maximum work time and water intake guidance values are NOT followed. It 

is assumed that after the safe maximum work time limit has been reached, the Soldiers will rest 

in cool shade for several hours. The maximum water intake is limited to 1.3 quarts (e.g., 

canteens) per hour as drinking more than that amount per hour is potentially dangerous due to the 

fact that the human body cannot absorb much more than that. 

5.7 Info View 

The last view available is the Info view in figure 8. This provides a means to display 

background information, caveats, acknowledgements, etc., about the product. In abiding with 

the Apple philosophy of expediting program startup, the information view is not the initial screen 

upon program launch. It is straightforward to add custom logos (e.g., the ARL and USARIEM 

logos in the top corners) to any view by simply creating and saving your graphics as portable 

native graphics (.png) images and then inserting and positioning them via the previously 

mentioned Interface Builder window. 
13 

Figure 8. Info view. 

6. Browser Capability 

The iPod Touch has a web browser (Safari) built-in capability, which will allow access to any 

number of browser apps over the internet, assuming there is an internet connection (e.g., via WiFi). The following image is the MHSDA as a browser app as displayed in landscape mode on 

the iPod Touch device (but developed for a desktop/laptop environment). When the iPod Touch 

or iPhone device is rotated so that the screen is horizontal (figure 9), the display automatically 

switches to landscape mode (and returns to portrait mode when rotated back to vertical). This is 

only a prototype for the iPod Touch as the browser display was tailored for a larger screen. 

However, by placing your thumb and forefinger in close proximity to each other on the screen 

and then “stretching” them apart, the browser display will automatically zoom in (and zoom back 

out when you “pinch” your thumb and forefinger together on the screen). Thus, even for web 

pages not designed specifically for the iPod Touch screen, one can make the screen inputs more 

useable via pinch and stretch techniques. The screen capture in figure 10 represents a portion of 

the screen shown in figure 9 that is displayed via the “stretching” technique. With the zoomed-in 

capability, it would be much easier to accurately select and edit the various input parameters. 
14 

Figure 9. Heat stress browser. 

Figure 10. Heat stress browser zoomed in. 

Although an attempt was not made to consume a web service on the device, an internet search of 

the capability turned up a multitude of sites indicating that it is certainly possible to do so. Web 

services represent one of the latest and most widely accepted client-server technologies for 

running processes remotely or retrieving remote data. We are currently developing an enterprise 

app that will utilize web services for the client-server interaction. Once complete, we will test 

and evaluate the iPod Touch. 
15 

7. Relational Database 

Storing and retrieving data to/from large datasets is much more efficient when utilizing relational 

databases as opposed to simple text files. More than one of the ARL Battlefield Environment 

Division’s weather-related apps rely on relational databases; thus, if it is desired to host any of 

them on the iPod Touch, a relational database capability would be required. Fortunately, the 

iPod Touch includes the SQLite relational database. Thus, in theory, large databases, such as the 

Integrated Weather Effects Decision Aid (IWEDA) impacts database and the Gridded 

Meteorological Database (GMDB) could be hosted and used. SQLite even supports the storage 

of binary large objects (‘blobs’) which the GMDB makes use of. The advantage of having this 

capability on the mobile devices means that the IWEDA and/or GMDB could be synchronized 

locally on the iPod Touch so that remote wireless communications would not have to be relied 

upon. Then IWEDA, as well as any apps that require access to the GMDB (e.g., weather or 

weather impacts visualization, hem./bio diffusion models, etc.) could be run locally. It is 

desirable that development of a simple app to test and benchmark the database capabilities (e.g., 

blob create, read, update and delete; table creation and query; data entry; etc.) be undertaken at 

some point to evaluate the potential for weather app support. Certainly the storage capabilities 

(up to 64 GB) of the devices will support large relational databases. 

8. Conclusions 

A number of mobile computing devices have flooded the consumer market over the last decade. 

These include PDAs, Apple iPod and iPhone devices, and smartphones (e.g., running either the 

Windows Mobile or Android operating system). This has created an opportunity to leverage this 

technology for military advantage, particularly for dismounted Soldiers. A number of apps have 

been developed for one or more of these devices (one has been fielded). With increasing options 

and capabilities, the opportunity to provide even more advanced apps for the military exists and 

will continue to be exploited. In FY11, an Android-based smartphone will be used to host one or 

more apps (to include a simplified MHSDA). This will allow a head-to-head comparison of 

some of the tradeoffs between it, the iPhone Touch, and PDAs. 
16 

List of Symbols, Abbreviations, and Acronyms 

AAB All American Bowl 

app or apps application or applications 

ARL U.S. Army Research Laboratory 

GMDB Gridded Meteorological Database 

GUI graphical user interface 

IDE integrated development environment 

IWEDA Integrated Weather Effects Decision Aid 

MFC Microsoft Foundation Classes 

MHSDA Mobile Heat Stress Decision Aid 

MVC Model-View-Controller 

PDA personal digital assistant 

.png portable native graphics 

SDK Software Development Kit 

TOC tactical operations center 

USARIEM U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine 

WBGT Wet Bulb Globe Temperature 
17 

No. of

Copies Organization

1 (PDF) ADMNSTR 

 DEFNS TECHL INFO CTR 

 DTIC OCP 

 8725 JOHN J KINGMAN RD STE 

0944 

 FT BELVOIR VA 22060-6218 

3 HCs US ARMY RSRCH LAB 

 ATTN RDRL CIM P 

 TECHL PUB 

 ATTN RDRL CIM L 

 TECHL LIB 

 ATTN IMNE ALC HRR 

 MAIL & RECORDS MGMT 

 2800 POWDER MILL ROAD 

 ADELPHI MD 20783-1197 

1 CD US ARMY RSRCH LAB 

 ATTN RDRL CIM G 

 TECHL LIB 

 BUILDING 4600 

 APG MD 21005-5066 

1 CD US ARMY RSRCH LAB 

 ATTN RDRL CIE 

 P CLARK 

 WSMR NM 88002-5513 

4 CDs US ARMY RSRCH LAB 

 ATTN RDRL CIE M 

 D KNAPP 

 D SAUTER (3 CDs) 

 WSMR NM 88002-5513 

Total: 10 (1 PDF, 6 CDs, 3 HCs)
18 

INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK.