Real-Time Assessment of Situation Awareness of Air Traffic Control Specialists On Operational Host Computer System and Display System Replacement Hardware

Improving the current Air Traffic Control (ATC) system with new technologies such as decision support systems (DSTs) is necessary to accommodate continued growth in air traffic. These new technologies will potentially move ATC Specialists (ATCSs) from tactical to more strategic control. How this change will affect ATCS situation awareness (SA) is unknown. To assess SA real-time on operational hardware and software is both a technical and human factors challenge. This paper describes the measurement of SA, including a new instrument, in an experiment that investigated the effect of traffic level, automation, and ATCS position. Sixteen ATCSs from Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs) within the United States volunteered. We attached the Situation Awareness Verification and ANalysis Tool (SAVANT) to hardware used in operational facilities and probed ATCS real-time. The results of the experiment showed that the implementation of an online SA assessment instrument on operational hardware is feasible. ATCS position, load, and level of automation had an effect on ATCS SA. The results have implications for the introduction of new automation tools and the assessment of their effect on ATCS SA.