Data-Driven Analysis of the Airport Cargo Screening Process

Shipments transported by air are screened, as are passengers and their luggage. It aims to detect objects or substances that can be used to commit an act of unlawful interference. New equipment and control techniques are often introduced into widespread use. Therefore, studying the effects of using them for the cargo security checkpoint (CSC) is essential. The screening process is complex, and its parameterization under specific conditions is challenging. The research aimed to analyze the security screening process, considering the number of items included in a single load and its weight. The main focus of the study was on the CSC throughput, depending on the type of shipment being inspected. The results of 2021 measurements were used, which recorded the type and time of inspection performed. A model based on a Bayesian Network was developed to examine the probability of running particular types of checks. An essential part of the research was developing a tool for predicting the inspection time of an entire batch of shipments to be transported on a single flight. For this purpose, a Naive Bayes Classifier was used, which proved effective in the application studied. The methods used, and the tools created made it possible to evaluate different variants of CSC equipment for the screening process in terms of throughput.

Keywords: Security screening, Bayesian network, Air transport, Safety and security, Aviation cargo, Critical infrastructure protection.

Download PDF