CSE498, Collaborative Design, Spring 2012
Computer Science and Engineering
Michigan State University

Pilots and air traffic controllers must have accurate up-to-date weather information both for pre-flight planning and in-flight navigation to ensure the safety of passengers and crews.

Currently, aviation professionals carry all of the necessary charts and maps in paper form. These paper charts and maps contain vital weather information such as barometric pressure, wind speeds, cloud cover and other important data relevant to their flight path.

Recently, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved the use of iPads by pilots on the flight deck. Cutting-edge mobile technologies can now be used to provide innovative replacements for outdated technologies along with a host of new ones.

Done in collaboration with GE Aviation, our mobile aviation weather iPad application serves as a replacement for traditional paper weather charts and maps.

FAA aviation maps called sectional charts display a pilot’s current location. Up-to-date weather and radar data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are overlaid in a user friendly way. Weather radar animations show the speed and direction of moving weather fronts.

Our mobile avionics weather iPad application is written in Objective-C. The aviation sectional charts are obtained from the FAA. The weather information is acquired from NOAA via RESTful web services.