# Distributed Area Coverage with High Altitude Balloons Using Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.03823 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.03823/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 13 of its 32 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 4 Oct 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 13 of 13)

- [Multi-Agent Actor-Critic for Mixed Cooperative-Competitive Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.02275/) (2017)
- [Counterfactual Multi-Agent Policy Gradients](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1705.08926/) (2017)
- [Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning: A Selective Overview of Theories and Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.10635/) (2019)
- [Value-Decomposition Networks For Cooperative Multi-Agent Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.05296/) (2017)
- [Monotonic Value Function Factorisation for Deep Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.08839/) (2020)
- [A Survey of Learning in Multiagent Environments: Dealing with Non-Stationarity](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1707.09183/) (2017)
- [An Introduction to Centralized Training for Decentralized Execution in Cooperative Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.03052/) (2024)
- [Reinforcement Learning for UAV Attitude Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1804.04154/) (2018)
- [A Survey of Progress on Cooperative Multi-agent Reinforcement Learning in Open Environment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.01058/) (2023)
- [Multi-agent Reinforcement Learning: A Comprehensive Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.10256/) (2023)
- [Cooperative Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning for Reliable Surveillance via Autonomous Multi-UAV Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.05843/) (2022)
- [Learning to Navigate in Turbulent Flows with Aerial Robot Swarms: A Cooperative Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.04781/) (2023)
- [Seasonal Station-Keeping of Short Duration High Altitude Balloons using Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.05014/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

High Altitude Balloons (HABs) can leverage stratospheric wind layers for limited horizontal control, enabling applications in reconnaissance, environmental monitoring, and communications networks. Existing multi-agent HAB coordination approaches use deterministic methods like Voronoi partitioning and extremum seeking control for large global constellations, which perform poorly for smaller teams and localized missions. While single-agent HAB control using reinforcement learning has been demonstrated on HABs, coordinated multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) has not yet been investigated. This work presents the first systematic application of multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) to HAB coordination for distributed area coverage. We extend our previously developed reinforcement learning simulation environment (RLHAB) to support cooperative multi-agent learning, enabling multiple agents to operate simultaneously in realistic atmospheric conditions. We adapt QMIX for HAB area coverage coordination, leveraging Centralized Training with Decentralized Execution to address atmospheric vehicle coordination challenges. Our approach employs specialized observation spaces providing individual state, environmental context, and teammate data, with hierarchical rewards prioritizing coverage while encouraging spatial distribution. We demonstrate that QMIX achieves similar performance to the theoretically optimal geometric deterministic method for distributed area coverage, validating the MARL approach and providing a foundation for more complex autonomous multi-HAB missions where deterministic methods become intractable.