Deep learning in remote sensing: a review

Standing at the paradigm shift towards data-intensive science, machine learning techniques are becoming increasingly important. In particular, as a major breakthrough in the field, deep learning has proven as an extremely powerful tool in many fields. Shall we embrace deep learning as the key to all? Or, should we resist a 'black-box' solution? There are controversial opinions in the remote sensing community. In this article, we analyze the challenges of using deep learning for remote sensing data analysis, review the recent advances, and provide resources to make deep learning in remote sensing ridiculously simple to start with. More importantly, we advocate remote sensing scientists to bring their expertise into deep learning, and use it as an implicit general model to tackle unprecedented large-scale influential challenges, such as climate change and urbanization.Comment: Accepted for publication IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazin

Hyperspectral benthic mapping from underwater robotic platforms

We live on a planet of vast oceans; 70% of the Earth's surface is covered in water. They are integral to supporting life, providing 99% of the inhabitable space on Earth. Our oceans and the habitats within them are under threat due to a variety of factors. To understand the impacts and possible solutions, the monitoring of marine habitats is critically important. Optical imaging as a method for monitoring can provide a vast array of information however imaging through water is complex. To compensate for the selective attenuation of light in water, this thesis presents a novel light propagation model and illustrates how it can improve optical imaging performance. An in-situ hyperspectral system is designed which comprised of two upward looking spectrometers at different positions in the water column. The downwelling light in the water column is continuously sampled by the system which allows for the generation of a dynamic water model. In addition to the two upward looking spectrometers the in-situ system contains an imaging module which can be used for imaging of the seafloor. It consists of a hyperspectral sensor and a trichromatic stereo camera. New calibration methods are presented for the spatial and spectral co-registration of the two optical sensors. The water model is used to create image data which is invariant to the changing optical properties of the water and changing environmental conditions. In this thesis the in-situ optical system is mounted onboard an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle. Data from the imaging module is also used to classify seafloor materials. The classified seafloor patches are integrated into a high resolution 3D benthic map of the surveyed site. Given the limited imaging resolution of the hyperspectral sensor used in this work, a new method is also presented that uses information from the co-registered colour images to inform a new spectral unmixing method to resolve subpixel materials

CLASSIFICATION BASED ON SEMI-SUPERVISED LEARNING: A REVIEW

Semi-supervised learning is the class of machine learning that deals with the use of supervised and unsupervised learning to implement the learning process. Conceptually placed between labelled and unlabeled data. In certain cases, it enables the large numbers of unlabeled data required to be utilized in comparison with usually limited collections of labeled data. In standard classification methods in machine learning, only a labeled collection is used to train the classifier. In addition, labelled instances are difficult to acquire since they necessitate the assistance of annotators, who serve in an occupation that is identified by their label. A complete audit without a supervisor is fairly easy to do, but nevertheless represents a significant risk to the enterprise, as there have been few chances to safely experiment with it so far. By utilizing a large number of unsupervised inputs along with the supervised inputs, the semi-supervised learning solves this issue, to create a good training sample. Since semi-supervised learning requires fewer human effort and allows greater precision, both theoretically or in practice, it is of critical interest

Harmonic Analysis Inspired Data Fusion for Applications in Remote Sensing

This thesis will address the fusion of multiple data sources arising in remote sensing, such as hyperspectral and LIDAR. Fusing of multiple data sources provides better data representation and classification results than any of the independent data sources would alone. We begin our investigation with the well-studied Laplacian Eigenmap (LE) algorithm. This algorithm offers a rich template to which fusion concepts can be added. For each phase of the LE algorithm (graph, operator, and feature space) we develop and test different data fusion techniques. We also investigate how partially labeled data and approximate LE preimages can used to achieve data fusion. Lastly, we study several numerical acceleration techniques that can be used to augment the developed algorithms, namely the Nystrom extension, Random Projections, and Approximate Neighborhood constructions. The Nystrom extension is studied in detail and the application of Frame Theory and Sigma-Delta Quantization is proposed to enrich the Nystrom extension