Airborne Early Warning and Color-Coding

Abstract

This study examined improvements to airborne early warning possible by color-coding information into the current surveillance radar system of the E-2C aircraft. It used man-in-the-loop simulation to examine performance in a taxing but realistic, war-alert scenario, and a number of measures of operator performance were taken that showed differences between color and monochrome operation. A set of nine functions was selected for color-coding, and a scheme was developed to code their information into colors for the operator's main display. Both operational Navy and Grumman E-2C operators were tested under color and monochrome conditions and the results strongly favor operation with color. Operators remained more aware of the tactical situation, organized better defenses of their task force, and reduced threats to the fleet better with the color-coded display. Non-redundant color-coding should be considered for any complex tactical task where performance can be expected to improve if more information is displayed - particularly in cases where operators' manipulation of controls can be reduced and their decision making can be made less dependent on memory.