Metaheuristic algorithms for air-route optimization under climate change

This thesis studies air-route optimisation under climate-driven turbulence using both exact algorithms and metaheuristics. We first build a transparent baseline on synthetic grids and small airport networks where edge costs are still-air travel times. This allows reproducible comparisons between Dijkstra’s algorithm (exact, nonnegative additive costs) and a basic Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO) solver in terms of optimality gap, convergence, and runtime. In a second stage we introduce turbulence via a normalised exposure field and integrate it into the objective as a soft penalty that preserves additivity. This design keeps Dijkstra applicable while making ACO turbulence-aware with no architectural changes. We examine sensitivity to the turbulence weight, report time–exposure trade-offs, and identify when avoidance merely re-weights a dominant corridor versus when it induces genuine rerouting (e.g., hub switches). On a 20×20 grid, ACO matches the Dijkstra optimum on the additive baseline with higher compute cost; when turbulence is active, a modest colony may under-explore, which we quantify and remedy by tuning. On a toy airport network (e.g., BCN–BSL–BER) the optimal itinerary remains stable across a wide range of turbulence weights, yielding a near-vertical time–exposure curve. Contributions are: (i) a clean evaluation scaffold for exact vs. metaheuristic routing; (ii) a turbulence cost model compatible with both solvers; and (iii) a sensitivity protocol that clarifies when turbulence avoidance changes routes. We close with limitations, lessons learned, and lines for future work on multi-objective fuel/CO2 trade-offs and 3D, time-varying fields.

Grantor dc:publisher

Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Icochea López, Brian Martin

Statement dc:rights

• CC BY-NC-ND

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/es/

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10609/153966

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:openaccess.uoc.edu:10609/153966