Common Situational Awareness Research Articles

Human-Machine Shared Situational Awareness

Abstract As unmanned platforms are more and more present in battlefield, alongside humans, in different configurations (from tele-operated to fully autonomous platforms, manned-unmanned teaming, swarming, etc.) and domains (space, air, land, sea, and underwater), it is also necessary for decision-making process to adapt to this new reality. This process will no longer be exclusively human and this requires that humans and machines share a common, meaningful, and timely understanding of the context in which they act and interact, namely a common situational awareness. We will investigate how this objective could be achieved by means of AI-related techniques of inference and reasoning based on ontologies that will enable all levels of information sharing (data, knowledge, and models) among all participants, humans and non-humans. The success of this undertaking shall be reflected by the achievement of a high level of interoperability between heterogeneous entities, within which they will be able to take advantage of each other’s best developed abilities.

On the Level of Measurement of Subjective Psychometric Ratings

Subjective psychometric ratings are critical tools in human factors engineering. Despite widespread use, there is controversy about whether such ratings can be treated at cardinal levels of measurement. Answering this question is important given that a measure’s level determines what mathematical and statistical operations can be meaningfully applied to them. This paper synthesizes results from an effort (published over several papers) that developed a method for assessing the level of measurement of subjective ratings and used it to evaluate common trust, situation awareness, and workload metrics. This paper synthesizes these results to determine that subjective measures should rarely, if ever, be treated as ratio. It also found that, in a population analysis, some measures (like all the ones considered) can be treated as interval. In all other situations, and especially in analyses or modeling efforts for individuals or small sample sizes, ordinal is the safest default.

The Need for Establishing a New United Nations Body to Protect Earth from Back Contamination and Outer Space from Forward Contamination

The purpose of the article is to explore the necessity to establish a new United Nations body, which is authorised to monitor and protect Earth and its organisms from biological contamination from extra-terrestrial sources and to protect outer space from forwarding contamination. Recent studies show that these contaminations could potentially have an extremely detrimental effecton life on Earth and for the safety of future outer space exploration. The study is doctrinal research and primary and secondary legal sources of international space law and environmental law are analysed. The research also applies a theoretical approach to determine what sets of principles should be applied and what intuitional innovation is needed to achieve optimally the goals of improving safety standards. This article presents a proposal for establishing a specialized UN organ to monitor an international agreement for the international planetary quarantine protocol of Earth. The need of establishing a new body in the system of the UN for protection of the Earth’s environment from harmful contamination caused by activities in outer space is quite distinguished. This publication aims also to increase awareness about the need for institutional innovation of the present UN system, particularly concerning global challenges like contamination from outer space and contamination of outer space. One of the major global challenges of today is the absence of safeguards for the protection of Earth from back contamination, an extra-terrestrial source of infection and destruction of space debris on the surface. The proposed new legal instrument would create guarantees for the protection of Earth and the outer space environment, support the adoption of a common space situational awareness system for monitoring and disclosing information about what is happening in outer space.

Common Cyber Situational Awareness: An Important Part of Modern Public Protection and Disaster Relief

European Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) services such as law enforcement, firefighting, emergency medical and disaster recovery services have recognized that the lack of interoperability of technical systems limit the cooperation between authorities. Also Finnish PPDR authorities and politicians have recognized the importance of a common situational awareness in preparation for the future. When the purpose is to work effectively towards a common goal or solve various challenges, accurate and reliable information as a basis for situational awareness is needed. Cyber situational awareness is the part of situational awareness which concerns the “cyber” environment. Such situational awareness can be reached, e.g., by the use of data from IT sensors that can be fed to a data fusion process or be interpreted directly by the decision-maker. This study was conducted on the ground by visiting situation and command centers located in the Turku area in Southwestern Finland. The Southwestern Finland Police department, the Southwest Finland Emergency Services, the Hospital District of Southwest Finland and the Finnish Border Guard in Turku have their own situation/ command centers. The main purpose of the study was to find out local level factors which affect to utilization of situational awareness system. The aim was also to research the level of preparedness in regional administration including local PPDR departments. The main results can be summarized so that the operational field work of the PPDR authorities should be more standardized so that implementing new technology would be profitable. The lack of cooperation between situation centers prevent to create common situational awareness. In the future, cyber situational awareness can play an important role in emergency and crisis management because the scene of PPDR will increasingly often be a cyber-physical system.

Next-Generation Smart Response Web (NG-SRW): An Operational Spatial Decision Support System for Maritime Oil Spill Emergency Response in the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea)

The Baltic Sea is a unique and sensitive brackish-water ecosystem vulnerable to damage from shipping activities. Despite high levels of maritime safety in the area, there is a continued risk of oil spills and associated harmful environmental impacts. Achieving common situational awareness between oil spill response decision makers and other actors, such as merchant vessel and Vessel Traffic Service center operators, is an important step to minimizing detrimental effects. This paper presents the Next-Generation Smart Response Web (NG-SRW), a web-based application to aid decision making concerning oil spill response. This tool aims to provide, dynamically and interactively, relevant information on oil spills. By integrating the analysis and visualization of dynamic spill features with the sensitivity of environmental elements and value of human uses, the benefits of potential response actions can be compared, helping to develop an appropriate response strategy. The oil spill process simulation enables the response authorities to judge better the complexity and dynamic behavior of the systems and processes behind the potential environmental impact assessment and thereby better control the oil combat action.

Large scale exercise in Norway – Exercise Frohavet 2019

ABSTRACT « October 8th at 1630 hours: Equinor reports loss of well control on the exploration well «Staalull». Large amounts of crude oil flow continuously from the seabed at the depth of 1200 feet. An oil spill from the exploration well has a potential for landfall within five days. The oil characteristics are unknown. Equinor is unable to control the well and needs to start planning for a relief well. This may take several months. » This is a potential scenario for a major oil spill and the exercise planned for the Norwegian coast, October 2019. Approximately 600 responders were involved. The intention was to test Equinor and NOFO (The Norwegian Clean Seas Association for Operating Companies) and their ability to handle a long-lasting oil spill in a safe and secure manner – within all barriers. The exercise involved Equinor CMT (Crisis Management Team), IMT (Incident Management Team), NOFO, offshore and nearshore vessels, aircraft, digital SCAT (Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Technique) surveys and beach cleaning operations at different locations onshore. The main goal of the exercise was interaction and communication within and between the different response organisations. The intermediate objectives were 1) establish a common situational awareness and 2) communicate accurate information at the right time to affected parties. The exercise took place at seven different locations in Norway and establishment and maintenance of situational awareness throughout the response organisation was crucial to the effective handling of the incident. This required effective communication and information sharing throughout all levels. The incident management is based on the Incident Command System (ICS), but modified to align with Norwegian conditions. During the exercise we performed an extensive evaluation of all the organisations; with feedback to and from the personnel involved. The result of the evaluation, lessons learned, and implementation of improvements within the organisations involved, will improve the Norwegian industry's ability to manage long-lasting oils spills in the future.

Inter-organisational communication and situational awareness in an emergency operation centre during major incidents

Sharing information between different public safety organisations plays a vital role during major incidents. Common situational awareness among the actors is a key element in achieving successful e...

사이버작전에 대한 공통상황인식 함양을 위한 軍사이버작전 교육체계 연구 및 방향성 제안 - 非사이버작전부대 장교 교육을 중심으로 -

사이버작전에 대한 공통상황인식 함양을 위한 軍사이버작전 교육체계 연구 및 방향성 제안 - 非사이버작전부대 장교 교육을 중심으로 -

The Shared Information Platform for Disaster Management –The Research and Development Regarding Technologies for Utilization of Disaster Information–

The common situational awareness among the disaster-response organizations and the appropriate action based on the information sharing are the key factor for the effective and efficient disaster response. Supported by the Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP), we have developed the Shared Information Platform for Disaster Management (SIP4D) which facilitate the “cross-ministerial information sharing” by intermediating the various governmental organizations. Also, as the empirical research for utilize the shared disaster-information by SIP4D, we have developed the Medical Activity Support System for Disaster Management, the Reservoir Disaster Prevention Support System, and the Disaster Management Information Service Platform. In this paper, we introduce the overview of our R&D project, and report the implementation plans of our systems in the society.

How to improve communication using technology in emergency medical services? A case study from Finland

The field of emergency medical services (EMS) is a challenging environment for ensuring fluent information exchange between stakeholders because several different kinds of organizations are involved in EMS missions. Solutions for information and communication technology can vary significantly depending on the organization. This study aims to identify current communication bottlenecks between EMS professionals, understand the technological challenges behind them, and describe technologies that can improve EMS communication in the future.
 Information for the study about current EMS processes, technologies, and technology needs was collected from EMS professionals during three workshops, five personal interviews, and one email questionnaire. All surveyed health care professionals were working in the county of Northern Ostrobothnia. Information about proposed technologies for EMS was obtained from literature and interviews with five technology companies.
 The principal problem in EMS communication is scattered health data. This leads to a lack of common situational awareness for professionals and incomplete medical histories for patients. The reasons behind those problems are different information systems which do not communicate with each other and the lack of a common electronic patient care record (ePCR) for use by stakeholders. Personal health measurements, sensors, telemedicine, and artificial intelligence will create opportunities for further improving the flow of communication in EMS, provided those tools can be integrated into decision-making systems.

Data Processing Method in Medium Range Coastal Radar Complex

The article presents the basic principles of design and development of integrated middle range Coastal Surveillance System (CSS) used for water surface lookout. It provides solutions for such missions as command and control of maritime forces, border monitoring and control, prevention of illegal activities such as piracy, smuggling, illegal immigration, illegal fishing, supporting search and rescue (SAR) operations, and creates a common situation awareness picture of the Naval Theatre. The system structure diagram is designed to solve computational overload problem when processing large volume of data received from radar stations. The measurement-level fusion algorithm is developed based on the JPDA framework, in which radar data received from a single or group of radars and AIS data is aggregated in a processing center. The servers and workstations make use of local area network (LAN), using standard Gigabit Ethernet technologies for local network communications. Acquisition, analysis, storage and distribution of target data is executed in servers, then the data is sent to automated operator stations (console), where functional operations for managing, identifying and displaying of target on digital situational map are performed.

Link-K와 KMTF 메시지 간 포맷 변환 방법

Link-K message is the Tactical Data Link message standard developed by the Agency for Defense Development which is optimized for the Joint Operation of ROK Armed Force. KMTF message is the standard message format of Battle Management Information System. Interconversion and propagation between these messages are definitely needed to have efficient warfare such as situation data propagation using network, the convergence of collected situation data, common situational awareness, cooperative engagement. Therefore, this study suggests a way of rule and process for format conversion between Link-K and KMTF messages.

A HIGH-FIDELITY ARTIFICIAL AIRPORT ENVIRONMENT FOR SESAR APOC VALIDATION EXPERIMENTS

Europe’s SESAR Program develops a wide range of solutions to increase the performance of the Air Traffic System. At airport level, the Airport Operations Center (APOC) is expected to provide the most benefit in adverse weather conditions, being the ultimate communication platform to pursue the Total Airport Management (TAM) Collaborative Decision Making Process. It will increase mutual and common situation awareness and allows the joint definition and implementation of the operational strategy. The assessment of APOC benefits in a live airport environment is rather limited and requires implementation and “right” weather and traffic situations. This work argues for validation trials in high fidelity artificial airport environments as a more reliable and less costly alternative which allows comparison between operations before and after implementation of new solutions. Based on requirements provided by SESAR concept documentation and from live operations this work presents an approach for such a high fidelity artificial environment.

Enhancing the Leadership Communication Skills of Norwegian Military Officers

Background: For military officers it is important to accomplish the mission and to take care of their personnel. The key to knowing how to challenge and support each individual in one’s unit lies in leadership communication and in getting to know each one. Purpose of Study: To discuss the use of guidance as a tool for improving leadership communication skills in officers. Sources of Evidence: The Norwegian Armed Forces needs leaders who can act in their role and position. The challenge is to collect and share information, to create a common situational awareness, and hence to achieve an interaction with others that provides the desired efficiency in accordance with the Norwegian Armed Forces Joint Operational Doctrine. Main argument: The officer needs knowledge and skills in building good relations with others in their own unit. The Norwegian Military Academy teaches guidance as a communication tool in leadership development. This is facilitated through a five-day course in guidance. The interpersonal relationships create a sense of esprit de corps, that is, feelings of loyalty, enthusiasm, devotion to a group, and mutual trust. Guidance helps the officers to learn about themselves and others, their own reaction patterns and those of others, and gives them an understanding of relationships. Conclusion: Dialogue provides an opportunity to reflect on the professional and personal challenges and thoughts. The focus is on facilitating that the individuals being guided increase their will to reflect on their own thought patterns and emotions.

Trajectory prediction for future air traffic management – complex manoeuvres and taxiing

AbstractThe future air traffic management (ATM) concept envisaged by the Single European Sky ATM Research – SESAR – and the USA equivalent NextGen, mark a paradigm shift from the current reactive approach of ATM towards holistic strategic collaborative decision making. The core of the future ATM concept relies on common situational awareness over potentially large time-horizons, based upon the user operational intent. This is beyond human capabilities and requires the support of automation tools to predict aircraft state throughout the operation and provide support to optimal decision making long before any potential conflict may arise. This is achieved with trajectory predictors and conflict detectors and resolvers respectively. Numerous tools have been developed, typically geared towards addressing specific airborne applications. However, a comprehensive literature search suggests that none of the tools was designed to predict trajectories throughout the entire operation of an aircraft, i.e. gate-to-gate. Yet, such functionality is relevant in the holistic optimisation of aircraft operations. To address this gap, this paper builds on an existing en route trajectory prediction (TP) model and develops novel techniques to predict aircraft trajectories for the transitions between the ground- and enroute-phases of operation and for the ground-phase, thereby enabling gate-to-gate (or enroute -to-enroute) TP. The model is developed on the basis of Newtonian physics and operational procedures. Real recorded data obtained from a flight data record (FDR) were used to estimate some of the input parameters required by the model. The remaining parameters were taken from the BADA 3.7 model. Performance results using these flight data demonstrate that the proposed TP model has the potential to accurately predict gate-to-gate trajectories and to support future ATM applications such as gate-to-gate synchronisation.

Performance requirements of future Trajectory Prediction and Conflict Detection and Resolution tools within SESAR and NextGen: Framework for the derivation and discussion

Future Air Traffic Management will increasingly be based on a strategic, collaborative and automated concept of operations. A key prerequisite is the capability to guarantee common situational awareness amongst relevant stakeholders as a function of time, extrapolated into the future in order to strategically optimise safe air traffic flow. This is achieved with Decision Support Tools (DSTs), including Trajectory Prediction (TP) and Conflict Detection and Resolution (CDR) tools. The functions and requirements which these tools must fulfil are dependent upon the application within the concept of operations. In order to optimise the development of the DSTs, it is important to understand the requirements for each of the applications. This paper reviews the key functions of the TP and CDR elements of DSTs in relation to these applications. It discusses the key performance drivers, derives performance metrics and develops a framework for the derivation of TP and CDR performance requirements, to support industry and standardisation bodies in the harmonisation process. A mapping exercise is undertaken to identify which of the functionalities are supported by state-of-the-art TP and CDR tools (in the public domain) and establishes those that require further research and development, highlighting some of the key challenges.

An Efficient Broadcast Authentication Scheme with Batch Verification for ADS-B Messages

As a cornerstone of the next generation air traffic management (ATM), automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) system can provide continual broadcast of aircraft position, identity, velocity and other messages over unencrypted data links to generate a common situational awareness picture for ATM. However, since ADS-B messages are unauthenticated, it is easy to insert fake aircrafts into the system via spoofing or insertion of false messages. Unfortunately, the authentication for ADS-B messages has not yet been well studied. In this paper, we propose an efficient broadcast authentication scheme with batch verification for ADS-B messages which employs an identity-based signature (IBS). Security analysis indicates that our scheme can achieve integrity and authenticity of ADS-B messages, batch verification, and resilience to key leakage. Performance evaluation demonstrates that our scheme is computationally efficient for the typical avionics devices with limited resources, and it has low communication overhead well suitable for low-bandwidth ADS-B data link.

Localization Services for Online Common Operational Picture and Situation Awareness

Many operations, be they military, police, rescue, or other field operations, require localization services and online situation awareness to make them effective. Questions such as how many people are inside a building and their locations are essential. In this paper, an online localization and situation awareness system is presented, called Mobile Urban Situation Awareness System (MUSAS), for gathering and maintaining localization information, to form a common operational picture. The MUSAS provides multiple localization services, as well as visualization of other sensor data, in a common frame of reference. The information and common operational picture of the system is conveyed to all parties involved in the operation, the field team, and people in the command post. In this paper, a general system architecture for enabling localization based situation awareness is designed and the MUSAS system solution is presented. The developed subsystem components and forming of the common operational picture are summarized, and the future potential of the system for various scenarios is discussed. In the demonstration, the MUSAS is deployed to an unknown building, in an ad hoc fashion, to provide situation awareness in an urban indoor military operation.

Regional Public-Private Interoperable Communications for Catastrophic Events Using a Cloud Computing Based Portal

As part of the US Department of Homeland Security Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program, a plan was developed for a region-wide public-private sector communications strategy for the Illinois-Indiana-Wisconsin combined statistical area (CSA). Key to this plan is the implementation of a governance structure and web-based communications platform for the entire CSA. A governance structure is outlined at the organizational, operational and technology levels. This governance takes the form of a coalition of public agencies, private companies, and non-profit organizations throughout the CSA. One of the responsibilities of the coalition is to coordinate situational awareness and resource requests among participants during a catastrophic event. A web-based portal is developed to facilitate this kind of information exchange, overlaid on cloud computing infrastructure for extra resiliency. The portal services and architecture are outlined, along with actual views obtained from a prototype that was developed. Evaluations conducted using a simulated disaster drill showed that a portal concept can be highly effective in establishing common situational awareness and consolidating resource requests across public and private organizations during adverse events. Implementation of a portal within the CSA would be best accomplished on a gradual basis using a phased approach.

A Reference Software Architecture to Support Unmanned Aircraft Integration in the National Airspace System

This paper outlines an architecture that provides data and software services to enable a set of Unmanned Aircraft (UA) platforms to operate in a wide range of air domains which may include terminal, en route, oceanic and tactical. The architecture allows a collection of command, control, situational awareness, conflict detection and avoidance, and data management elements to be composed in order to meet different requirement sets as defined by specific UA platforms, users, and operating regimes. The architecture discussed is based on a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) with open standards on the interfaces between elements. Services may include common situational awareness, sense and avoid, weather, data management and flight plan information. Service contracts specify quality of service, interface specifications, service description metadata, security provisions, and governance. Pieces of the architecture have been implemented by MIT Lincoln Laboratory in the form of a Sense and Avoid (SAA) testbed that provides some of the core services. This paper describes the general architecture and a SAA testbed implementation that begins to realize that architecture and quantifies the benefits. The proposed architecture is not directed at a specific program but is intended to provide guidance and offer architectural best practices.