Determining Optimum Ship Routes

A method is given for determining optimum ship routes on a digital computer. A ship is assumed to be in a fallout field whose intensity is a known function f(x, y, t) of position and time. A typical problem is that of choosing a route to a point where f ≦ f_m, the maximum intensity that can be tolerated indefinitely. The route is to be such as to minimize the dose z = ∫₀^Tfdt, the termininal time and point are not specified. The problem of sending the ship to a given point with z minimized is also discussed. These are equivalent to corresponding problems of choosing a route to minimize the probability of detection while going through a region where the probability of detection is a known function of position and time.