Generic Prioritization Framework for Target Selection and Instrument Usage for Reconnaissance Mission Autonomy

A generic prioritization framework is introduced for addressing the problem of automated prioritization of target selection and instrument usage, applicable to Earth and space reconnaissance missions. The framework is based on the assumptions that clustering of preliminary data for identified targets within an operational area has occurred and that the clustering quality can be expressed as an objective function. Target prioritization then means to rank targets according to their probability of changing the objective function value upon close reexamination. The formalism for calculating these probabilities and the probabilities for instruments aboard a science craft to contribute to this change of the objective function value is introduced.