Team CTA Applied to Radar Operations System Modernization

A team Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) approach has been applied to the modernization of a radar operations system. With the remoting and automation of radar operations, there will be dramatic changes in the number and role of operators, as well as the displays required to support operators during missions. To design the new modernized system it is necessary to obtain a full understanding of how the current system operates and ensure that the allocation of tasks to humans and automation fully covers the entire operation. Traditional task analysis does not take into consideration plans for staffing reduction and addition of the new team “member” or agent, i.e., the automated system. To facilitate operator interaction with the modernized system, a new team architecture must be considered. CTA documents current operations, including a representation of mental activities, e.g., assessments, judgements, and decisions, in addition to the physical actions, e.g., executing system commands. A team CTA method is used to model the operations independent of the current operator roles and team structure. This approach captures the element of “team” by assuming a meta-operator and representing parallel tasking and data flow among tasks. This paper provides a description of the team CTA method and its application to large-scale, complex system design.