Weather display symbology affects pilot behavior and decision-making
2015; Elsevier BV; Volume: 50; Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/j.ergon.2015.09.008
ISSN1872-8219
Autores Tópico(s)Aerospace and Aviation Technology
ResumoTo examine the basic discriminability of weather display symbols and to assess the effects of weather display symbology on pilot behavior and decision-making. During a cockpit simulation, 24 instrument-rated general aviation (GA) pilots were randomly allocated to one of three simulation groups. Pilots flew a Cessna 172 single-engine GA aircraft under Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) and Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) while avoiding hazardous weather. We manipulated the weather display so that each pilot group used a different weather symbology (i.e., symbols and colors). We measured dependent variables for weather avoidance, communication, weather display usage, and cognitive engagement (i.e., oxygenation from Functional Near-Infrared [fNIR] measures). During a change-detection experiment, 20 naïve participants performed a detection task of changes in Aviation Routine Weather Reports (METARs), precipitation, Significant Meteorological Information (SIGMET), lightning, and time-stamp images. The simulation outcome showed credible pilot group differences in weather deviations, cognitive engagement, and weather display usage. The change-detection experiment revealed credible differences in discriminability of METAR, SIGMET, and lightning symbols. Symbol and color variations in weather displays contribute to perceptual asymmetries which affect pilot behavior and decision-making. We recommend the development of cockpit applications that use weather data to automatically track hazardous conditions and alert the pilot of potential weather conflicts or weather changes.
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