In aviation it's vital to maintain a high level of conscience over the position in the context.
The situation awareness can be considered as a mental model which represents the reality that an individual is experiencing in a given moment.
This model of the reality will be the foundation of all the decision-making process, and should be kept continuously updated taking into account the rapid changes that occur in the environment.
The situational awareness has three levels, the first one consists in perceiving the position, status, attributes and the dynamic of the important factors in the environment.
For example a pilot should pay attention to other aircraft's, terrain, warning lights or alarms.
The second level consists in summarize the information acquired in the first level and integrate all relevant elements in a single mind map having in consideration the objectives.
A good example is if there is a warning light during the take-off, it will force the pilot to quickly determine the gravity of the problem having in consideration the integrity of the aircraft and the available length of the runway, making the decision to abort or to continue the take-off.
In the third and final level, to assure the situational awareness future actions of the elements of the system must be predicted.
For experienced individuals a significant part of the time is spent previewing the behaviours of the several elements of the environment.
Once this level of situational awareness is achieved is possible to have the knowledge and the necessary time to make the best decision.