282 research outputs found
A Comprehensive Survey of Deep Learning in Remote Sensing: Theories, Tools and Challenges for the Community
In recent years, deep learning (DL), a re-branding of neural networks (NNs),
has risen to the top in numerous areas, namely computer vision (CV), speech
recognition, natural language processing, etc. Whereas remote sensing (RS)
possesses a number of unique challenges, primarily related to sensors and
applications, inevitably RS draws from many of the same theories as CV; e.g.,
statistics, fusion, and machine learning, to name a few. This means that the RS
community should be aware of, if not at the leading edge of, of advancements
like DL. Herein, we provide the most comprehensive survey of state-of-the-art
RS DL research. We also review recent new developments in the DL field that can
be used in DL for RS. Namely, we focus on theories, tools and challenges for
the RS community. Specifically, we focus on unsolved challenges and
opportunities as it relates to (i) inadequate data sets, (ii)
human-understandable solutions for modelling physical phenomena, (iii) Big
Data, (iv) non-traditional heterogeneous data sources, (v) DL architectures and
learning algorithms for spectral, spatial and temporal data, (vi) transfer
learning, (vii) an improved theoretical understanding of DL systems, (viii)
high barriers to entry, and (ix) training and optimizing the DL.Comment: 64 pages, 411 references. To appear in Journal of Applied Remote
Sensin
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Whales from space: Assessing the feasibility of using satellite imagery to monitor whales
By the mid-twentieth century, the majority of great whale species were threatened with extinction, following centuries of commercial whaling. Since the implementation of a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1985 by the International Whaling Commission, the recovery of whale population is being regularly assessed. Various methods are used to survey whale populations, though most are spatially limited and prevent remote areas from being studied. Satellites orbiting Earth can access most regions of the planet, offering a potential solution to surveying remote locations. With recent improvements in the spatial resolution of satellite imagery, it is now possible to detect wildlife from space, including whales.
In this thesis, I aimed to further investigate the feasibility of very high resolution (VHR) satellite imagery as a tool to reliably monitor whales. The first objective was to describe, both visually and spectrally, how four morphologically distinct species appear in VHR satellite imagery. The second objective was to explore different ways to automatically detect whales in such imagery, as the current alternative is manual detection, which is time-consuming and impractical when monitoring large areas. With the third objective, I attempted to give some insights on how to estimate the maximum depth at which a whale can be detected in VHR satellite imagery, as this will be crucial to estimate whale abundance from space.
This thesis shows that the four species targeted could be detected with varying degrees of accuracy, some contrasting better with their surroundings. Compared to manual detection, the automated systems trialled here took longer, were not as accurate, and were not transferable to other images, suggesting to focus future automation research on machine learning and the creation of a well-labelled database required to train and validate. The maximum depth of detection could be assessed only approximately using nautical charts. Other methods such as the installation of panels at various depths should be trialled, although it requires prior knowledge of the spectral reflectance of whales above the surface, which I tested on post-mortem samples of whale integument and proved unreliable. Such reflectance should be measured on free-swimming whale using unmanned aerial vehicles or small aircraft. Overall, this thesis shows that currently VHR satellite imagery can be a useful tool to assess the presence or absence of whales, encouraging further developments to make VHR satellite imagery a reliable method to monitor whale numbers.The MAVA Foundation (16035
Integrating openstreetmap data and sentinel-2 Imagery for classifying and monitoring informal settlements
Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geospatial TechnologiesThe identification and monitoring of informal settlements in urban areas is an important
step in developing and implementing pro-poor urban policies. Understanding when,
where and who lives inside informal settlements is critical to efforts to improve their
resilience. This study aims at integrating OSM data and sentinel-2 imagery for
classifying and monitoring the growth of informal settlements methods to map informal
areas in Kampala (Uganda) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and to monitor their growth
in Kampala. Three building feature characteristics of size, shape and Distance to nearest
Neighbour were derived and used to cluster and classify informal areas using Hotspot
Cluster analysis and ML approach on OSM buildings data. The resultant informal
regions in Kampala were used with Sentinel-2 image tiles to investigate the spatiotemporal
changes in informal areas using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs).
Results from Optimized Hot Spot Analysis and Random Forest Classification show that
Informal regions can be mapped based on building outline characteristics. An accuracy
of 90.3% was achieved when an optimally trained CNN was executed on a test set of
2019 satellite image tiles. Predictions of informality from new datasets for the years
2016 and 2017 provided promising results on combining different open source
geospatial datasets to identify, classify and monitor informal settlements
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
Remote Sensing Image Scene Classification: Benchmark and State of the Art
Remote sensing image scene classification plays an important role in a wide
range of applications and hence has been receiving remarkable attention. During
the past years, significant efforts have been made to develop various datasets
or present a variety of approaches for scene classification from remote sensing
images. However, a systematic review of the literature concerning datasets and
methods for scene classification is still lacking. In addition, almost all
existing datasets have a number of limitations, including the small scale of
scene classes and the image numbers, the lack of image variations and
diversity, and the saturation of accuracy. These limitations severely limit the
development of new approaches especially deep learning-based methods. This
paper first provides a comprehensive review of the recent progress. Then, we
propose a large-scale dataset, termed "NWPU-RESISC45", which is a publicly
available benchmark for REmote Sensing Image Scene Classification (RESISC),
created by Northwestern Polytechnical University (NWPU). This dataset contains
31,500 images, covering 45 scene classes with 700 images in each class. The
proposed NWPU-RESISC45 (i) is large-scale on the scene classes and the total
image number, (ii) holds big variations in translation, spatial resolution,
viewpoint, object pose, illumination, background, and occlusion, and (iii) has
high within-class diversity and between-class similarity. The creation of this
dataset will enable the community to develop and evaluate various data-driven
algorithms. Finally, several representative methods are evaluated using the
proposed dataset and the results are reported as a useful baseline for future
research.Comment: This manuscript is the accepted version for Proceedings of the IEE
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