Advancing Situation Awareness Systems:Evaluating Decision-Making Methods with UAV Applications

Situation awareness (SA) refers to the perception of environmental elements within a specific volume of time and space, understanding their meaning, and projecting their near future status. This model has three levels: perception of the current situation, comprehension of the current situation, and projection of future status. SA is a term used to describe an individual’s level of awareness and understanding of "what is happening". Therefore, SA serves as the first step in decision-making, providing an understanding of "what is happening" and "what is likely to happen". In practice, safe decision-making depends on the continuous extraction of technical and environmental information, integrating knowledge, and forming a coherent mental picture to guide perception and predict future events. The use of this concept is essential for several reasons. First, situation awareness systems improve the accuracy of decisions by providing up-to-date and comprehensive information about the environment. These systems, by delivering precise data and analyses, reduce human errors and ensure that decision-makers consider all relevant factors and data, leading to more accurate decisions. Moreover, situation awareness increases decision-making speed. These systems quickly identify environmental changes and process large volumes of data in a short time, providing decision-makers with relevant information rapidly, which leads to timely and swift decisions.