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A Sequential Stochastic Security System Design Problem for Aviation Security

Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801
Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801
Department of Statistical Sciences and Operations Research, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23284
anikolae{at}uiuc.edu
shj{at}uiuc.edu
lamclay{at}vcu.edu

Passenger screening is a critical component of aviation security systems. This paper introduces the sequential stochastic security design problem (SSSDP), which models passenger and carry-on baggage-screening operations in an aviation security system. SSSDP is formulated as a two-stage model, where in the first stage security devices are purchased subject to budget and space constraints, and in the second stage a policy determines how passengers that arrive at a security station are screened. Passengers are assumed to check in sequentially, with passenger risk levels determined by a prescreening system. The objective of SSSDP is to maximize the total security of all passenger-screening decisions over a fixed time period, given passenger risk levels and security device parameters. SSSDP is transformed into a deterministic integer program, and an optimal policy for screening passengers is obtained. Examples are provided to illustrate these results, using data extracted from the Official Airline Guide.

Key Words: aviation security; homeland security; threat detection; risk analysis
History: Received: September 2006; revised: December 2006; accepted: February 2007.