Orienteringsförmåga och fysisk arbetsbelastning

Navigation skill is crucial for military activities and hence, is considered as basic for the future soldier. This studie discusses the applicability of using a GPS receiver in urban as well as rural terrain (part 19). In urban terrain and close country there is increased risk for signal shadow. The results show that an ordinary commercial GPS receiver got contact with the satellites (fix) at most places in a city centre with an error of +/- 15 m during 92% of the timeperiod (1 hr 48 min). Fix was obtained during 99% of the period.The embedded altitude (barometric)meter generally worked well and produced a slope profile comparable with that of maps from Swedish Land Survey.In an open and semi-open terrain the risk of reflections and no fix was minor provided that the receiver was attached on an open surface, preferably at the height of the shoulders. The possibility of using a GPS to estimate the physical work load has been studied using more than 30 conscripts (part 2). From the GPS-information of speed and altitude the power demand was calculated. Power estimations for walking on a flat, hard surface was fairly easy to do and results was comparable with those obtained from heart rate and Cooper-estimated maximum work capacity. For faster speed in a rougher terrain estimations demand knowledge about the terrain factor for walking and jogging. The power demand of jogging on a flat hard surface was 50% greater than when walking at the same speed. Walking in rough terrain demanded 100% more than when walking on e.g. a flat dirty road (same speed)and jogging in a rough terrain demanded about 150% more power than when walking on a flat dirty road.