Data fusion, decision-making, and risk analysis: Mathematical tools and techniques

Abstract

Human activity involves sequential decision-making. Activities with alternatives require deciding for one of the alternatives. A rational decision is one that weighs each alternative pros, cons, and risks. The support for decision-making is data that come basically from experience, either previously acquired or gathered for the specific decision-making. The data usually come from different sources and thus have to be fused for a single decision. The core of this chapter is precisely about data fusion. In its subsections, we look namely at some procedures and techniques commonly used in data fusion. Decision-making and risk analysis are briefly discussed