ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to the staff and faculty of USC for both putting up with my years of trials and tribulations and for passing on their knowledge and enthusiasm for learning about applied mathematics.
In particular, my thesis committee, Professors Sarper, Louisell, and Gosavi have spent more hours than their due to work with me and have me attempt to explain what I was working on; their continued support has been very much appreciated. Colonel Litwhiler, USAF, Professor of Mathematics at the US Air Force Academy, was instrumental in my research. Not only did he write the seminal paper in the semi-numerical field approaching my problem; he also took time from his schedule to talk with me about the long-past research and lent me his (unpublished and elsewhere unavailable) dissertation, upon which this research is based.
And certainly not least, my professor and mentor during my student tenure at USC, Trevor Hale, now at Ohio University, who opened the doors to applied mathematics and location science to me, thank you. Dr. Hale initially suggested the problem to me; it intrigued me (spherical geometry always gets me, even though I now know how much trouble it is), and I pursued it. I hope that this engineering study of the problem we discussed meets your expectations.
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