Situational awareness and safety

This paper considers the applicability of situation awareness concepts to safety in the control of complex systems. Much of the research to date has been conducted in aviation, which has obvious safety implications. It is argued that the concepts could be extended to other safety critical domains. The paper presents three theories of situational awareness: the three-level model, the interactive sub-systems approach, and the perceptual cycle. The difference between these theories is the extent to which they emphasise process or product as indicative of situational awareness. Some data from other studies are discussed to consider the negative effects of losing situational awareness, as this has serious safety implications. Finally, the application of situational awareness to system design, and training are presented

Using Semantic Web Technologies to Support Enhanced Situation Awareness

The AKTiveSA project is using Semantic Web technologies to support information fusion and enhanced situational awareness in a simulated humanitarian relief scenario. We have developed an application that shows how situational awareness can be supported during humanitarian relief situations; often occurring alongside military conflict. Semantic Web technologies provide new opportunities for harvesting information from numerous, disparate and often heterogeneous information sources and can be used to better support complex knowledge fusion

Sonification of Network Traffic Flow for Monitoring and Situational Awareness

Maintaining situational awareness of what is happening within a network is challenging, not least because the behaviour happens within computers and communications networks, but also because data traffic speeds and volumes are beyond human ability to process. Visualisation is widely used to present information about the dynamics of network traffic dynamics. Although it provides operators with an overall view and specific information about particular traffic or attacks on the network, it often fails to represent the events in an understandable way. Visualisations require visual attention and so are not well suited to continuous monitoring scenarios in which network administrators must carry out other tasks. Situational awareness is critical and essential for decision-making in the domain of computer network monitoring where it is vital to be able to identify and recognize network environment behaviours.Here we present SoNSTAR (Sonification of Networks for SiTuational AwaReness), a real-time sonification system to be used in the monitoring of computer networks to support the situational awareness of network administrators. SoNSTAR provides an auditory representation of all the TCP/IP protocol traffic within a network based on the different traffic flows between between network hosts. SoNSTAR raises situational awareness levels for computer network defence by allowing operators to achieve better understanding and performance while imposing less workload compared to visual techniques. SoNSTAR identifies the features of network traffic flows by inspecting the status flags of TCP/IP packet headers and mapping traffic events to recorded sounds to generate a soundscape representing the real-time status of the network traffic environment. Listening to the soundscape allows the administrator to recognise anomalous behaviour quickly and without having to continuously watch a computer screen.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures plus supplemental material in Github repositor

Ontology For Europe's Space Situational Awareness Program

This paper presents an ontology architecture concept for the European Space Agency‘s (ESA) Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Program. It incorporates the author‘s domain ontology, The Space Situational Awareness Ontology and related ontology work. I summarize computational ontology, discuss the segments of ESA SSA, and introduce an option for a modular ontology framework reflecting the divisionsof the SSA program. Among other things, ontologies are used for data sharing and integration. By applying ontology to ESA data, the ESA may better achieve its integration and innovation goals, while simultaneously improving the state of peaceful SSA

Application of an AIS to the problem of through life health management of remotely piloted aircraft

The operation of RPAS includes a cognitive problem for the operators(Pilots, maintainers, ,managers, and the wider organization) to effectively maintain their situational awareness of the aircraft and predict its health state. This has a large impact on their ability to successfully identify faults and manage systems during operations. To overcome these system deficiencies an asset health management system that integrates more cognitive abilities to aid situational awareness could prove beneficial. This paper outlines an artificial immune system (AIS) approach that could meet these challenges and an experimental method within which to evaluate it

Implementing a Checklist & Hourly Huddles to Increase Situational Awareness During the Second Stage of Labor-A Perinatal Quality Improvement Project

Background: Current management of the second stage of labor often follows tradition-based routines rather than evidence-based practices. A lack of situational awareness and tunnel vision can limit medical decision-making. Northern New England Perinatal Quality Improvement Network (NNEPQIN) has listed Second Stage Situational Awareness as a priority initiative. Standardized checklists are useful for maintaining situational awareness. Regular debriefings using a standardized tool have been shown to improve communication and team based care, which generally leads to improved patient outcomes. Based on this evidence, developing a standardized checklist including regular hourly care team “huddles” is valuable and could result in improved birth outcomes. AIM Statement: The global aim of this project was to reduce variability in practice during the second stage of labor to improve neonatal birth outcomes. The specific aim was to implement a second stage situational awareness checklist with a completion percentage of 80% by July 2015. Method: The theoretical framework guiding this project was Endsley’s theory of Situation Awareness. Pre-implementation chart reviews were conducted to determine what information was currently being documented during the second stage. A 9-item checklist was developed based on hospital preference for use during hourly huddles once second stage was reached. Staff were educated on checklist use pre-implementation. Post-implementation chart reviews were conducted to determine checklist completion percentage. Results: Chart reviews demonstrated an average checklist completion percentage of 43% over the two-week implementation period with a range of 22-89%. Huddles were conducted and documented in 33% of the reviewed delivery charts. Conclusions: Continued follow up and work re-design is needed to consistently incorporate the checklist and huddles into practice. Implications for the CNL: Implications for the CNL include continuing staff education to increase awareness and acceptance of the practice change, and examining project effects on perinatal outcomes including delivery mode and neonatal Apgar scoring

An evaluation of the situational awareness display format in the F/A-18 aircraft

This thesis evaluates the design, functionality and information display of the combined Situational Awareness format in the F/A-18 aircraft The combined Situational Awareness format fuses information and avionics controls from three existing display formats into a single display format The design is driven by the advent of improved data link capabilities and a new comprehensive electronic warfare system The combined Situational Awareness format is currently undergoing flight test and evaluation as part of the 15C/18EI System Configuration Sets for the F/A-18 Aircrew surveys of situational awareness following simulator sessions with and without the combined Situational Awareness display constitute the majority of test data for the thesis The thesis evaluates specifically the tactical utility of the push button controls and display presentations taken from the Horizontal Situation Indicator, Situational Awareness and Electronic Warfare formats The combined Situational Awareness format is enhancing to the overall situational awareness of F/A-18 aircrew The fusion of information from several sources into a single format reduces aircrew workload by providing one format for the majority of tactical information Despite the enhancing nature of the combined Situational Awareness display, several deficiencies still exist These are addressed in the conclusions and recommendations sectio