Katz Distributions and Minefield Clearance

Abstract

The principal uncertainties in clearing a minefield are about the number and type of mines that have not yet been removed. In this paper, we take the point of view that the number of mines should be thought of as a random variable M, and our main object is to show the advantages of a particular "Katz" class of probability distributions for M. We assume throughout that the result of clearance effort is to remove every mine with a known "clearance level" p, independently of all other mines. If p=1, we have the case of exhaustive clearance. A theory is hardly required when clearance is exhaustive, and the methods outlined below will be of no use, so we assume p<1.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2006
Accession Number
ADA487497

Entities

People

  • Alan R. Washburn

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Bayes Theorem
  • Bayesian Networks
  • Clearances
  • Military Operations
  • Minefields
  • Monte Carlo Method
  • Operations Research
  • Order Statistics
  • Probability
  • Probability Distributions
  • Random Variables
  • Real Numbers
  • Sampling
  • Standards
  • Statistics
  • Tactical Decision Aids
  • Theorems

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