Camera Angle and Terrain Homogeneity in WiSAR Visual Search

In Wilderness Search and Rescue (WiSAR), organizations are increasingly using Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) to reduce personnel exposure and search time. There exists a gap in knowledge of how sensor angles affect human performance in WiSAR environments. To study this, naturalistic stimuli were gathered from wilderness scenes at angles of 70° and 90°, in both homogeneous and distinct scenes, with a human target present or absent. Fifteen participants completed a visual search task, serving as imagery analysts and completing 10 trials per condition. Results indicated that overall accuracy was moderate (66%). While there were no significant main effects of scene type or angle, a significant interaction between these factors occurred in the target-present condition. These findings highlight the complexity of WiSAR visual search and the importance of analyzing human performance in this environment. The observed interaction suggests that the impact of camera angle on detection performance may be modulated by terrain characteristics.