Date of Award

6-2025

Degree Name

MS in Statistics

Department/Program

Statistics

College

College of Science and Mathematics

Advisor

Kelly Bodwin

Advisor Department

Statistics

Advisor College

College of Science and Mathematics

Abstract

The outcome of a search and rescue (SAR) operation is influenced by a complex, non-linear interplay among numerous factors, including geographic context, subject-specific characteristics, and environmental conditions. The high dimensionality and intricate dependencies among these variables pose significant challenges to traditional exploratory modeling approaches, limiting their ability to uncover meaningful patterns and relationships associated with mission success. This study introduces Rules Based Explanations for Generated neighborhoods Around Localized cases (REGAL), a novel adaptation of the Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations (LIME) framework to explain deep multimodal neural networks and what key features it assesses to determine search and rescue success. REGAL addresses limitations of traditional LIME by incorporating decision tree-based explanation mechanisms. These include split-based feature importance and the analysis of feature interactions, offering more contextually relevant and actionable insights into model behavior. REGAL also utilizes a generative modeling approach to create perturbations, to allow for more controlled, yet extensive analysis around a localized case.

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