Optimal search plan for multiple moving targets with search priorities incorporated

This paper deals with a one-searcher multi-target search problem where targets with different detection priorities move in Markov processes in each discrete time over a given space search area, and the total number of search time intervals is fixed. A limited search resource is available in each search time interval and an exponential detection function is assumed. The searcher can obtain a target detection award, if detected, which represents the detection priority of target and is non-increasing with time. The objective is to establish the optimal search plan which allocates the search resource effort over the search areas in each time interval in order to maximize the total detection award. In the analysis, the given problem is decomposed into intervalwise individual search problems each being treated as a single stationary target problem for each time interval. An associated iterative procedure is derived to solve a sequence of stationary target problems. The computational results show that the proposed algorithm guarantees optimality.