Optimal location of measurements for distributed parameter estimation

The problem of optimal measurement locations for state estimation in linear distributed parameter systems is considered. It has previously been shown that the optimal sensor location problem for distributed systems can be posed as an optimal control problem for a system described by the infinite-dimensional matrix Riccati equation for the filter covariance. A more efficient approach based on an upper bound of the filter covariance is developed in the present study. The relationship between the present approach and that of minimizing a measure of the filter covariance is studied. A detailed example is considered, and the results of the two approaches are compared.