An Investigation of the Effect of Assisted Target Cueing on Operator Target Acquisition Performance with First Generation FLIR Imagery

Abstract

The following experiment examined assisted target cueing (ATC) and target localization performance with first generation forward-looking infrared (FLIR) imagery collected for the TESSA program. Sixteen observers viewed dynamic FLIR imagery that varied in terms of aiding (unaided versus aided), ATC hit accuracy (50 % versus 75 %), amount and type of background clutter (“open”, “treeline”, and “sparse”), and slant range to the target array (8 km, 6 km, and 4 km). All images contained the target to be detected, a transporter erector launcher (TEL), as well as two support vehicles. After viewing each FLIR sequence, participants identified the TEL and rated their confidence in their decision. Results revealed that ATC cueing enhanced operator's confidence but did not alter their localization accuracy relative to the unaided condition, an outcome attributed to ceiling effects. In addition, operators performed somewhat more slowly with cueing, and ATC accuracy had no impact on performance.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adams

S. R.

(1991). Presentation format as a determinant of targeting task performance (Report No. NWC TP 7125). China Lake, CA: Naval Weapons Center.

Delashmit

W. H.

(1989). Present status and future needs for automatic target recognizers. SPIE Digital Image Processing Applications, 1075, 373–383.

Entin

E. B.

Entin

E. E.

(1997). The effects of decision time and decision-aid accuracy on workload and performance. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 41st Annual Meeting, (pp. 177–181). Santa Monica, CA: The Human Factors Society.

Entin

E. B.

Entin

E. E.

Serfaty

(1996). Optimizing aided target-recognition performance. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 40th Annual Meeting, (pp. 233–237). Santa Monica, CA: The Human Factors Society.

Fulghum

D. A.

(1994). Scud hunting may drop under 10 minute-mark. Aviation Week and Space Technology, 140 (8), 90.

Jones

D. T.

(1997). Combat air forces concept of operations for command and control against time critical targets. (OPR: HQ ACC/DRAW) Langley Air Force Base, VA.

Kuperman

G. G.

(1997). Human system interface (HSI) issues in assisted target recognition (ASTR). Proceedings of the 1997 IEEE National Aerospace and Electronics Conference, (pp. 37–48). Piscataway, NJ: IEEE.

See

J. E.

Davis

Kuperman

G. G.

(1997). Automatic target cueing and operator performance with enhanced APG-70 synthetic aperture radar imagery (Report No. AL/CF-TR-1997-0171). Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH: Armstrong Laboratory.

See

J. E.

Riegler

J. T.

Fitzhugh

Kuperman

G. G.

(1996). Unaided target acquisition performance with first-generation forward looking infrared imagery: A signal detection theory analysis (Report No. AL/CF-TR-1996-0094). Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH: Armstrong Laboratory.