# Requirements Engineering for a Drone-Enabled Integrated Humanitarian Logistics Platform
## 5 Research Methodology
### Requirement Elicitation and Specification for the AIRDROP Platform  
In this section, the initial stages of the elicitation and specification of requirements are tackled, which act as prerequisites, forming the path for our extensive analysis and investigation in the validation phase. This process is crucial for laying the groundwork for our analysis, directly contributing to answering RQ1 by gathering and documenting the wide array of AIRDROP services into specific requirements/needs. According to the work in [79], in requirements engineering, there is a multitude of elicitation and specification techniques, which are often used in a hybrid manner. In this research, during the elicitation process, the investigation of pertinent systems from the existing literature (e.g., case studies, academic outlets, project documentations), including their requirements documents, when available, played a role of paramount importance. In fact, the reuse of existing requirement artifacts makes requirements engineering more prescriptive and systematic [80]. Moreover, useful insights were provided through consultations with a leading drone technology integrator company ([[https://altus-lsa.com/](https://altus-lsa.com/)]([https://altus-lsa.com/](https://altus-lsa.com/)), accessed on 20 May 2024), notably in identifying and cross-checking technical requirements. These efforts provided critical inputs that were used to elicit the AIRDROP requirements and subsequently exploited in the requirement specification process. This involved considering infrastructure limitations, geographical challenges, communication barriers, resource constraints, technological compatibility, logistical challenges and more. As seen in Table 1, the process of requirement elicitation and specification resulted in the identification and documentation of a total of 335 requirements, thoughtfully allocated across the spectrum of 19 services. Notably, three supplementary services were included, namely general AIRDROP requirements, drone specifications encompassing the distinct requirements of UAVs, UGVs (comprising regular UGVs, heavy-lift UGVs, and MGVs), USVs, and user interface (UI) requirements. This first category was introduced to capture overarching prerequisites pertaining to the entire AIRDROP platform, including foundational elements, essential for its effective operation. Given the diverse range of unmanned vehicles utilized by the platform, a dedicated category was established to articulate the distinctive requirements of each vehicle type. Finally, the UI category was introduced to delineate the specific requirements regarding the design, usability, and accessibility of the platform's UIs. AIRDROP's requirements include functional and non-functional categories. The former pertain to the specific capabilities, functionalities, or tasks that the platform must perform to accommodate user needs and accomplish desired objectives, as opposed to the latter, which focus on the system's qualitative characteristics and behavior beyond basic functionalities. This distinction is not only dominant within research but also exceptionally influences how requirements are managed in practical implementations. Still, it is argued that most non-functional requirements, including those described in the present research,can be approached similarly to functional requirements [81]. AIRDROP's functional requirements include data, technical, and operational requirements, whereas its non-functional requirements include reliability, security, performance, compliance, usability, scalability, compatibility, and localization requirements. Regarding functional requirements, data requirements relate to the platform's data management and processing capabilities. Data collection, storage, retrieval, processing, and integration with other systems or sources are all included.