A GIS supported Ant algorithm for the linear feature covering problem with distance constraints [An article from: Decision Support Systems]

This digital document is a journal article from Decision Support Systems, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
This paper analyzes a linear feature covering problem (LFCP) with distance constraints, and characterizes the problem by a fuzzy multi-objective (MO) optimization model. An integrated approach combining an Ant algorithm (LFCP-Ant) and a Geographic Information System (GIS) has been devised to solve the LFCP problem in large scale. The efficacy of the proposed approach is demonstrated using a case study of locating new fire stations in Singapore. A GIS has been used to transform the continuous problem into a discrete one, which is then solved using the LFCP-Ant. This algorithm employs a two-phase local search to improve both search efficiency and precision.