Strategic Planning of Aerial Assets for Disaster Response: Enabling Efficient and Equitable Access to Drone-Based Search Resources

The rapid deployment of fleets of small, uncrewed aircraft (drones) in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster to search impacted regions for people in need of rescue is one of the most vital applications of advanced air mobility. Effective drone-based search operations require that the drone fleets operate out of bases that are appropriately located in advance of the disaster. Using a case study based in the Iwate prefecture of Japan, we develop optimization formulations to strategically locate drone bases. It is important to be capable of responding quickly to the locations most likely to require search, while covering as large an area as possible. We evaluate the disparities in the level of access afforded to different areas. Finally, we extend our optimization formulation to account for the probability of the base locations themselves being impacted by the disaster, and the possibility of base relocation.