Drones for disaster response and relief operations: A continuous approximation model

This paper proposes a Continuous Approximation (CA) model that designs the potentiality of drones as a mode of transportation to supply emergency commodities in a disaster-affected region. The model determines the optimal distribution center locations and their corresponding service regions and orde...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of production economics 2017-06, Vol.188, p.167-184
Main Authors: Chowdhury, Sudipta, Emelogu, Adindu, Marufuzzaman, Mohammad, Nurre, Sarah G., Bian, Linkan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Continuous approximation
Drone routing
Facility location
Humanitarian logistics
Inventory management
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Summary:This paper proposes a Continuous Approximation (CA) model that designs the potentiality of drones as a mode of transportation to supply emergency commodities in a disaster-affected region. The model determines the optimal distribution center locations and their corresponding service regions and ordering quantities to minimize the overall distribution cost for the disaster-relief operation. We propose a two-phase CA approach that solves the model efficiently. We conduct extensive sensitivity analysis to reveal insights into how system design varies with key drone design parameters. We use three disaster-prone coastal counties of Mississippi as a testbed to visualize and validate the modeling results.
ISSN:0925-5273
1873-7579
DOI:10.1016/j.ijpe.2017.03.024