A Simple Model of Search for a Moving Target

A target moves between two regions in a Markovian fashion, the parameters of which are known to the searcher. Discrete amounts of search effort (“looks”) may be allocated to one region at a time. This paper gives equations that characterize (a) the minimum expected number of looks to detect the target, and (b) the maximum probability of detecting the target within a given number of looks. These are solved completely for special cases, and numerical approximate solutions are described for general cases.