Reactive Planning Strategy for Event-Driven Observation in Heterogeneous Sensor Webs

Traditional planning algorithms used in satellite constellations and other sensor webs typically assume a static reward grid where observing each ground point provides a constant and typically uniform value. However, remote sensing of dynamic events on Earth’s surface requires a dynamic reward grid. This in turn requires a reactive planning approach that replans as needed when the reward grid changes. In this paper, we present a simple reactive planning strategy that builds upon existing work in the satellite observation planning field, and we examine its ability to observe dynamic events on Earth’s surface with a heterogeneous satellite constellation. We compare the approach to traditional non-reactive planning strategies. We also test the sensitivity of the reactive planning approach to two parameters - the timeliness of the information about events occurring, and the number of observation types required to complete a heterogeneous observation.