Representation of Humanitarian Aid / Disaster Relief missions with an Agent Based Model to analyze optimal resource placement

An Agent Based Model was developed to help analyze the importance of the size, number, operating time, and placement of resources dispensaries and processing centers in Phase II of a Humanitarian Aid / Disaster Relief (HA/DR) mission. The ABM developed takes into account population density, social economic attributes of the population, ethnicity makeup of the population, crime rates, resource needs, medical needs, and migration of the population after a disaster. The model was developed in NetLogo 4.1 to be a flexible analysis tool that can represent a variety of generic populated areas in need of humanitarian assistance. The model was analyzed varying 11 factors and tracking 6 responses using a 128 case Nested Latin Hypercube Design and a 60 case Robust Screening Design with 20 repetitions. The analysis determined the number of distribution and processing centers to be the major driving factor in the responses studied.