Earth:My Weather Impacts Decision Aid (MyWIDA)

As of 2018, My Weather Impacts Decision Aid (MyWIDA), a decision-support software, was developed by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL). Designed to improve compatibility of technology with environmental factors through weather forecasting, MyWIDA is an updated version of the Integrated Weather Effects Decision Aid (IWEDA), which the Army fielded in 1995.

Applications

MyWIDA uses weather forecast data to evaluate environmental impacts on military technology, aiding decision-makers in selecting appropriate technological tools under forecasted weather events. An example is surface winds greater than 25 knots, which prohibit launching of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a military scenario. The user would be alerted of this physical limitation through the MyWIDA software.

The system includes red-amber-green ratings (unfavorable-marginal-favorable), which account for a combination of weather parameters that affect a system or technology. These ratings determine limits beyond which it is not feasible for the technology function due to safety considerations, decreased system effectiveness or violation of manufacturer's operating limits.

Integrated Weather Effects Decision Aid

MyWida was preceded by Integrated Weather Effects Decision Aid (IWEDA), an automated software decision aid developed by ARL in 1992.

IWEDA was fielded on the Integrated Meteorological System (IMETS) in 1997 to provide tactical weather support to the U.S. IWEDA software was certified and accredited for the Army in 2006. As of 2011, the web-based MYWIDA was under development for eventual replacement of IWEDA.

IWEDA was designed to address the adverse effects of the environment and climate (i.e. wind, precipitation, storms and temperature) on military operations and weapon systems. IWEDA produced a graphic display of weather impacts on 70 weapon systems, including 16 threat systems. Impacts were displayed graphically on a user interface, called the Weather Effects Matrix (WEM), which color coded the impacts on the system of interest (i.e. green “favorable,” amber “marginal,” and red “unfavorable”). Although intended for the Army, applications were also integrated into the Air Force and Navy systems.

Over the years, observations have identified varying needs for IWEDA’s improvement. These included (1) a need to derive complete mission impact due to poor weather conditions, rather than simply presenting a “worst-case scenario” for specific weapon systems; and (2) a need to improve representation of IWEDA’s “stoplight” color scheme (green, yellow and red) by providing more color-coded values.