Thursday, June 21, 2012

About Situational Awareness

 “Situational Awareness (SA) refers to the degree of accuracy by which one's perception of his current environment mirrors reality.” (Naval Aviation Schools Command, 2012)

SA is a critical component in the effective decision making process, containing the data necessary to comprehend an environment (Endsley, 1988). SA, is composed of three components (i.e., levels), which include: (a) perception, (b) comprehension, and (c) projection (Endsley, 1988).   SA originates with the perception of environmental elements, using displays or personal senses (Endsley & Connors, 2008).  If any of these components are diminished (i.e., perception or comprehension), the accuracy of the following component (i.e., comprehension or projection) will also be diminished. 

SA reflects the amount of data a user has and is able to interpret at any given moment in time. Improving a user’s SA, while operating a vehicle, results in an overall improvement in performance, potentially decreases risk to the operational hardware, and increases operational efficiency.  Limiting an operator’s SA through diminished sensory input, results in a less accurate model of the operating environment. Less accuracy of an environment model reflects reduced or incorrect SA, which increases the potential for mishap or accidents (Hing, Sevcik, & Oh, 2009; Menda, Hing, Ayaz, Shewokis, Izzetoglu, Onaral, & Oh, 2011).  

REFERENCES
Endsley, M.R. (1988). Situational awareness global assessment technique (SAGAT). Proceedings of the IEEE 1988 National Aerospace and Electronics Conference, Dayton, OH, 3, 789 - 795. doi:10.1109/NAECON.1988.195097

Endsley, M.R., & Connors, E.S. (2008, August 12). Situation awareness: State of the art. 2008 IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting - Conversion and Delivery of Electrical Energy in the 21st Century, Pittsburgh, PA, 1-4. doi:10.1109/PES.2008.4596937

Hing, J., Sevcik, K., & Oh, P. (2010). Development and evaluation of a chase view for UAV operations in cluttered environments. Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, 57, 485-503.

Menda, J., Hing, J.T., Ayaz, H., Shewokis, P.A., Izzetoglu, K., Onaral, B. & Oh, P. (2011). Optical brain imaging to enhance UAV operator training, evaluation, and interface development. Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, 61, 423–443. doi 10.1007/s10846-010-9507-7

Naval Aviation School Command (2012). Situational awareness. Retrieved from https://www.netc.navy.mil/nascweb/crm/standmat/seven_skills/SA.htm



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