Towards a knowledge-based system prototype for aeronautical Search and Rescue operations

The long-term objective of our project is to develop a knowledge-based tool for Search and Rescue (SAR) operations to support a Canadian search mission coordinator in determining the likely location of a missing aircraft overland. In order to attain this objective, we used a knowledge engineering approach to acquire, structure and model SAR experts' knowledge. This knowledge was modeled and implemented in a knowledge-based system prototype. The input to the interactive prototype consists of the known information regarding a given SAR case. Its main output is a set of scenarios describing the various hypotheses on what might have happened to the missing aircraft, why and where, the plausible routes followed, as well as the possibility area, defined as the region most likely to contain the missing aircraft. In this paper, we introduce the knowledge model, present an application example and briefly describe the prototype.