Shared Situation Awareness (SSA) Measurement

DDL Omni Engineering and the Klein Associates Division (KAD) of Applied Research Associates (ARA) have teamed to conduct research related to measuring the state of Shared Situational Awareness (SSA) during distributed near-real time military operations. Our scope will focus on the Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) domain of naval operations. The Phase I research will apply a naturalistic ‘Sensemaking Data Frame’ model concept, developed by KAD, based on critical ASW planning and operational assumptions. Detailed knowledge of typical assumptions will be used as anchors in the Data Frame. The ASW Data Frame model will provide the basis for a software tool that will allow participants in a distributed operational environmental to continuously assess/monitor the validity of mission critical assumptions based on their individual (local) situational awareness (SA) and easily communicate to other participants in a network when they have reason to question the validity of a mission time-critical assumption. At a tactical level, the degree or quality of SSA is reflected in acceptance of the most important assumptions underlying actual decisions. While agreement indicates a high degree of SSA, questions or disagreement with critical assumptions is a qualitative measure of divergence or loss of SSA.