For years, the aviation industry has been under severe scrutiny over the safety of flight when cockpit automation is over relied on and when it is under utilized. This double-edged sword raises the question of situation awareness in aviation. With the recent boom in cockpit automation and advanced avionics some fear that the pilots are being put outside \"the loop\". Unfortunately, humans are notoriously poor monitors of reliable systems over time. However, research is currently being conducted into a new form of display that has the ability to group a myriad of aircraft mission and system status information onto one display, thereby providing pilots with a clear and concise view of the \"big\" picture, in one glance. This display utilizes a regular geometric shape generated on a polar graphic plot to indicate whether all monitored parameters are within acceptable limits. Dubbed Mission Status Graphics, the regular geometric shape will warp to a non-symmetrical form indicating that a mission or system parameter has exceeded its normal operating range. NASA Langley Research Center is currently investigating this display system for application to commercial aircraft cockpits; however, it is believed that general aviation flight safety and pilot situation awareness could also benefit from the addition of this display in future cockpit designs.
","abstract_html":"<p>For years, the aviation industry has been under severe scrutiny over the safety of flight when cockpit automation is over relied on and when it is under utilized. This double-edged sword raises the question of situation awareness in aviation. With the recent boom in cockpit automation and advanced avionics some fear that the pilots are being put outside "the loop". Unfortunately, humans are notoriously poor monitors of reliable systems over time. However, research is currently being conducted into a new form of display that has the ability to group a myriad of aircraft mission and system status information onto one display, thereby providing pilots with a clear and concise view of the "big" picture, in one glance. This display utilizes a regular geometric shape generated on a polar graphic plot to indicate whether all monitored parameters are within acceptable limits. Dubbed Mission Status Graphics, the regular geometric shape will warp to a non-symmetrical form indicating that a mission or system parameter has exceeded its normal operating range. NASA Langley Research Center is currently investigating this display system for application to commercial aircraft cockpits; however, it is believed that general aviation flight safety and pilot situation awareness could also benefit from the addition of this display in future cockpit designs.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bartolone, Anthony P."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Human Factors & Systems","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Human Factors and Systems","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Shawn Michael Doherty","Stephen Hall","James Cunningham"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2003,"date_issued":"2003-07-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2003-07-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:29Z","subjects":["general aviation","avionics","cockpit","failure detection","situation awareness","system monitoring","Aviation"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/7","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Shawn Michael Doherty","Stephen Hall","James Cunningham"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bartolone, Anthony P."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Human Factors and Systems"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Human Factors & Systems"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["general aviation","avionics","cockpit","failure detection","situation awareness","system monitoring","Aviation"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/7"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["For years, the aviation industry has been under severe scrutiny over the safety of flight when cockpit automation is over relied on and when it is under utilized. This double-edged sword raises the question of situation awareness in aviation. With the recent boom in cockpit automation and advanced avionics some fear that the pilots are being put outside \"the loop\". Unfortunately, humans are notoriously poor monitors of reliable systems over time. However, research is currently being conducted into a new form of display that has the ability to group a myriad of aircraft mission and system status information onto one display, thereby providing pilots with a clear and concise view of the \"big\" picture, in one glance. This display utilizes a regular geometric shape generated on a polar graphic plot to indicate whether all monitored parameters are within acceptable limits. Dubbed Mission Status Graphics, the regular geometric shape will warp to a non-symmetrical form indicating that a mission or system parameter has exceeded its normal operating range. NASA Langley Research Center is currently investigating this display system for application to commercial aircraft cockpits; however, it is believed that general aviation flight safety and pilot situation awareness could also benefit from the addition of this display in future cockpit designs.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Investigating the Effects of the Mission Status Graphics Polar Star Display on Failure Detection Time and Situation Awareness for Mission and System Monitoring in General Aviation Aircraft"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Shawn Michael Doherty","Stephen Hall","James Cunningham"],"dc:creator":["Bartolone, Anthony P."],"dc:description.abstract":["For years, the aviation industry has been under severe scrutiny over the safety of flight when cockpit automation is over relied on and when it is under utilized. This double-edged sword raises the question of situation awareness in aviation. With the recent boom in cockpit automation and advanced avionics some fear that the pilots are being put outside \"the loop\". Unfortunately, humans are notoriously poor monitors of reliable systems over time. However, research is currently being conducted into a new form of display that has the ability to group a myriad of aircraft mission and system status information onto one display, thereby providing pilots with a clear and concise view of the \"big\" picture, in one glance. This display utilizes a regular geometric shape generated on a polar graphic plot to indicate whether all monitored parameters are within acceptable limits. Dubbed Mission Status Graphics, the regular geometric shape will warp to a non-symmetrical form indicating that a mission or system parameter has exceeded its normal operating range. NASA Langley Research Center is currently investigating this display system for application to commercial aircraft cockpits; however, it is believed that general aviation flight safety and pilot situation awareness could also benefit from the addition of this display in future cockpit designs.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/7"],"dc:subject":["general aviation","avionics","cockpit","failure detection","situation awareness","system monitoring","Aviation"],"dc:title":["Investigating the Effects of the Mission Status Graphics Polar Star Display on Failure Detection Time and Situation Awareness for Mission and System Monitoring in General Aviation Aircraft"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Human Factors and Systems"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Human Factors & Systems"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:29Z"}