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 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.