Partially observable Markov decision processes for risk-based screening

A long-term goal for checked baggage screening in airports has been to include passenger information, or at least a predetermined passenger risk level, in the screening process. One method for including that information could be treating the checked baggage screening process as a system-of-systems. This would allow for an optimized policy builder, such as one trained using the methodology of partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDP), to navigate the different sensors available for screening. In this paper we describe the necessary steps to tailor a POMDP for baggage screening, as well as results of simulations for specific screening scenarios.