Context-Based Visual Aids to Support the Situation Awareness of Field Engineers Conducting Windstorm Risk Surveys

Abstract

Insurance loss prevention survey, specifically windstorm risk inspection survey is the process of investigating potential damages associated with a building or structure in the event of an extreme weather condition such as a hurricane or tornado. This process is performed by a trained windstorm risk engineer who physically goes to a facility to assess the wind vulnerabilities associated with it. This process is highly subjective, and the accuracy of findings depends on the experience and skillsets of the engineer. Although using sensors and automation enabled systems help engineers gather data, their ability to make sense of this information is vital. Further, their Situation Awareness (SA) can be affected by the use of such systems. Using a between-subjects experimental design, this study explored the use of various context-based visualization strategies to support the SA requirements and performance of windstorm risk engineers. The independent variable included in this study is the type of context-based visualizations used (with 3 levels: no visual aids, checklist based and predictive display based visual aids). We measured SA using SAGAT and performance using a questionnaire. SA and performance were found to be higher for the predictive display and checklist based conditions. The findings from this study will inform the design of context-based decision aids to support the SA of risk engineers.