The situation awareness of smart distribution system is the critical foundation for the reliability

economy and safety of distribution system operation. The content

framework and key technologies of situation awareness and orientation for smart distribution systems are presented and discussed. First

the content and target of situation awareness and orientation are given. Next

the system framework of the technologies of situation awareness and orientation is constructed. Finally

in order to fully grasp the situation of distribution network operation and provide strong support for the smart dispatching of complicated distribution network

key technologies from five aspects of situation perception

situation comprehension

situation projection

situation visualization and situation orientation are summarized and prospected to provide a reference for further study. This work is supported by National Basic Research Program of China(973 Program)(No. 2013CB228203)and National Natural Science Foundation of China(No. 51377115).