ABSTRACT
Kelly M. Bates, EIT for the degree of Master of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering presented on 13 April 2001.
INVESTIGATIONS OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION METHODOLOGIES FOR THE 1-MEDIAN LOCATION PROBLEM ON A SPHERE
Abstract Approved:______________________________________
H�seyin Sarper, Ph.D., P.E.
This paper investigates the mathematical and engineering difficulties in determining a general solution for the deterministic single facility minisum location problem on the surface of a sphere. A previously discussed but not investigated method for finding a search starting point is presented and analyzed versus results of other methods. In addition, an enumeration-type search is investigated for its relative (engineering) efficiency and the results are compared to strict mathematical model solutions. The use of the great circle arc in direct substitution into the Weiszfeld algorithm is also discussed.
The intent of this research is to provide an engineering investigation of a new methodology that is computer-intensive (and therefore not able to be fully analyzed until now), present a primer on the difficulties of spherical geometry problems in location science, and be an engineering investigation of a previously strictly mathematical problem (as described in location science terms and prior works).
The online version of this thesis (text, data files, and freely distributable versions of the program code) are available at http://www.geocities.com/tradkelly/thesis/thesishome.html, or the author may be directly contacted for a current version at tradkelly@(nospam)yahoo.com.
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