Active Learning: Any Value for Classification of Remotely Sensed Data?

Active learning, which has a strong impact on processing data prior to the classification phase, is an active research area within the machine learning community, and is now being extended for remote sensing applications. To be effective, classification must rely on the most informative pixels, while the training set should be as compact as possible. Active learning heuristics provide capability to select unlabeled data that are the “most informative” and to obtain the respective labels, contributing to both goals. Characteristics of remotely sensed image data provide both challenges and opportunities to exploit the potential advantages of active learning. We present an overview of active learning methods, then review the latest techniques proposed to cope with the problem of interactive sampling of training pixels for classification of remotely sensed data with support vector machines (SVMs). We discuss remote sensing specific approaches dealing with multisource and spatially and time-varying data, and provide examples for high-dimensional hyperspectral imagery

Unsupervised methods of classifying remotely sensed imges using Kohonen self-organizing maps

Orientadores: Marcio Luiz de Andrade Netto, Jose Alfredo Ferreira CostaAcompanha Anexo A: Midia com informações adicionais em CD-RTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Eletrica e de ComputaçãoResumo: Esta tese propõe novas metodologias de classificação não-supervisionada de imagens de sensoriamento remoto que particularmente exploram as características e propriedades do Mapa Auto-organizável de Kohonen (SOM - Self-Organizing Map). O ponto chave dos métodos de classificação propostos é realizar a análise de agrupamentos das imagens através do mapeamento produzido pelo SOM, ao invés de trabalhar diretamente com os padrões originais das cenas. Tal estratégia reduz significativamente a complexidade da análise dos dados, tornando possível a utilização de técnicas normalmente consideradas computacionalmente inviáveis para o processamento de imagens de sensoriamento remoto, como métodos de agrupamentos hierárquicos e índices de validação de agrupamentos. Diferentemente de outras abordagens, nas quais o SOM é utilizado como ferramenta de auxílio visual para a detecção de agrupamentos, nos métodos de classificação propostos, mecanismos para analisar de maneira automática o arranjo de neurônios de um SOM treinado são aplicados e aprimorados com o objetivo de encontrar as melhores partições para os conjuntos de dados das imagens. Baseando-se nas propriedades estatísticas do SOM, modificações nos cálculos de índices de validação agrupamentos são propostas com o objetivo de reduzir o custo computacional do processo de classificação das imagens. Técnicas de análise de textura em imagens são aplicadas para avaliar e filtrar amostras de treinamento e/ou protótipos do SOM que correspondem a regiões de transição entre classes de cobertura terrestre. Informações espaciais a respeito dos protótipos do SOM, além das informações de distância multiespectral, também são aplicadas em critérios de fusão de agrupamentos procurando facilitar a discriminação de classes de cobertura terrestre que apresentam alto grau de similaridade espectral. Resultados experimentais mostram que os métodos de classificação propostos apresentam vantagens significativas em relação às técnicas de classificação não-supervisionada mais freqüentemente utilizadas na área de sensoriamento remoto.Abstract: This thesis proposes new methods of unsupervised classification for remotely sensed images which particularly exploit the characteristics and properties of the Kohonen Self-Organizing Map (SOM). The key point is to execute the clustering process through a set of prototypes of SOM instead of analyzing directly the original patterns of the image. This strategy significantly reduces the complexity of data analysis, making it possible to use techniques that have not usually been considered computationally viable for processing remotely sensed images, such as hierarchical clustering methods and cluster validation indices. Unlike other approaches in which SOM is used as a visual tool for detection of clusters, the proposed classification methods automatically analyze the neurons grid of a trained SOM in order to find better partitions for data sets of images. Based on the statistical properties of the SOM, clustering validation indices calculated in a modified manner are proposed with the aim of reducing the computational cost of the classification process of images. Image texture analysis techniques are applied to evaluate and filter training samples and/or prototypes of the SOM that correspond to transition regions between land cover classes. Spatial information about the prototypes of the SOM, in addition to multiespectral distance information, are also incorporated in criteria for merging clusters with aim to facilitate the discrimination of land cover classes which have high spectral similarity. Experimental results show that the proposed classification methods present significant advantages when compared to unsupervised classification techniques frequently used in remote sensing.DoutoradoEngenharia de ComputaçãoDoutor em Engenharia Elétric

Characterisation and monitoring of forest disturbances in Ireland using active microwave satellite platforms

Forests are one of the major carbon sinks that significantly contribute towards achieving targets of the Kyoto Protocol, and its successors, in reducing greenhouse (GHG) emissions. In order to contribute to regular National Inventory Reporting, and as part of the on-going development of the Irish national GHG reporting system (CARBWARE), improvements in characterisation of changes in forest carbon stocks have been recommended to provide a comprehensive information flow into CARBWARE. The Irish National Forest Inventory (NFI) is updated once every six years, thus there is a need for an enhanced forest monitoring system to obtain annual forest updates to support government agencies and forest management companies in their strategic decision making and to comply with international GHG reporting standards. Sustainable forest management is imperative to promote net carbon absorption from forests. Based on the NFI data, Irish forests have removed or sequestered an average of 3.8 Mt of atmospheric CO2 per year between 2007 and 2016. However, unmanaged and degraded forests become a net emitter of carbon. Disturbances from human induced activities such as clear felling, thinning and deforestation results in carbon emissions back into the atmosphere. Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM, Ireland), this PhD study focuses on exploring the potential of data from L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite based sensors for monitoring changes in the small stand forests of Ireland. Historic data from ALOS PALSAR in the late 2000s and more recent data from ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 sensors have been used to map forest areas and characterise the different disturbances observed within three different regions of Ireland. Forest mapping and disturbance characterisation was achieved by combining the machine learning supervised Random Forests (RF) and unsupervised Iterative Self-Organizing Data Analysis (ISODATA) classification techniques. The lack of availability of ground truth data supported use of this unsupervised approach which forms natural clusters based on their multi-temporal signatures, with divergence statistics used to select the optimal number of clusters to represent different forest classes. This approach to forest monitoring using SAR imagery has not been reported in the peer-review literature and is particularly beneficial where there is a dearth of ground-based information. When applied to the forests, mapped with an accuracy of up to 97% by RF, the ISODATA technique successfully identified the unique multi-temporal pattern associated with clear-fells which exhibited a decrease of 4 to 5 decibels (dB) between the images acquired before and after the event. The clustering algorithm effectively highlighted the occurrence of other disturbance events within forests with a decrease of 2±0.5dB between two consecutive years, as well as areas of tree growth and afforestation. A highlight of the work is the successful transferability of the algorithm, developed using ALOS PALSAR, to ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 data thereby demonstrating the potential continuity of annual forest monitoring. The higher spatial and radiometric resolutions of ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 data have shown improvements in forest mapping compared to ALOS PALSAR data. From mapping a minimum forest size of 1.8 ha with ALOS PALSAR, a minimum area of 1.1 ha was achieved with the ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 images. Moreover, even with some different backscatter characteristics of images acquired in different seasons, similar signature patterns between the sensors were retrieved that helped to define the cluster groups, thus demonstrating the robustness of the algorithm and its successful transferability. Having proven the potential to monitor forest disturbances, the results from both the sensors were used to detect deforestation over the time period 2007-2016. Permanent land-use changes pertaining to conversion of forests to agricultural lands and windfarms were identified which are important with respect to forest monitoring and carbon reporting in Ireland. Overall, this work has presented a viable approach to support forest monitoring operations in Ireland. By providing disturbance information from SAR, it can supplement projects working with optical images which are generally limited by cloud cover, particularly in parts of northern, western and upland Ireland. This approach adds value to ground based forest monitoring by mapping distinct forests over large areas on an annual basis. This study has demonstrated the ability to apply the algorithm to three different study areas, with a vision to operationalise the algorithm on a national scale. The main limitations experienced in this study were the lack of L-band SAR data availability and reference datasets. With typically only one image acquired per year, and discrepancies and omissions existing within reference datasets, understanding the behaviour of certain cluster groups representing disturbances was challenging. However, this approach has addressed some issues within the reference datasets, for example locating areas for which a felling licence was granted but where trees were never cut, by providing detailed systematic mapping of forests. Future satellites such as Tandem-L, SAOCOM-2A and 2B, P-band BIOMASS mission and ALOS-4 PALSAR-3 may overcome the issue of limited SAR image acquisitions provided more images per year are available, especially during the summer months