Category: Journal Papers

Abstract: Topic models (e.g., pLSA, LDA, sLDA) have been widely used for segmenting imagery. However, these models are confined to crisp segmentation, forcing a visual word (i.e., an image patch) to belong to one and only one topic. Yet, there are many images in which some regions cannot be assigned a crisp categorical label (e.g., […]

Abstract: In this paper, two methods for multiple instance target characterization, MI-SMF and MI-ACE, are presented. MI-SMF and MI-ACE estimate a discriminative target signature from imprecisely-labeled and mixed training data. In many applications, such as sub-pixel target detection in remotely-sensed hyperspectral imagery, accurate pixel-level labels on training data is often unavailable and infeasible to obtain. […]

Abstract: In hyperspectral unmixing applications, one typically assumes that a single spectrum exists for every endmember. In many scenarios, this is not the case, and one requires a set or a distribution of spectra to represent an endmember or class. This inherent spectral variability can pose severe difficulties in classical unmixing approaches. In this paper, […]

Abstract: The aim of this work is to characterize the seafloor by estimating invariant sand ripple parameters from synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) imagery. Using a hierarchical Bayesian framework and a known sensing geometry, a method for estimating sand ripple frequency, amplitude, and orientation values from a single SAS image, as well as from sets of […]

Abstract: We present a Bayesian probabilistic model and inference algorithm for fuzzy clustering that provides expanded capabilities over the traditional Fuzzy C-Means approach. Additionally, we extend the Bayesian Fuzzy Clustering model to handle a variable number of clusters and present a particle filter inference technique to estimate the model parameters including the number of clusters. […]

Abstract: The functions of multiple instances (FUMI) approach for learning target and nontarget signatures is introduced. FUMI is a generalization of the multiple-instance learning (MIL) approach for supervised learning. FUMI differs significantly from standard MIL and supervised learning approaches because only data points which are functions of class concepts/signatures are available. In particular, this paper […]

Abstract: This paper introduces the beta compositional model (BCM) for hyperspectral unmixing and four algorithms for unmixing given the BCM. Hyperspectral unmixing estimates the proportion of each endmember at every pixel of a hyperspectral image. Under the BCM, each endmember is a random variable distributed according to a beta distribution. By using a beta distribution, […]

Abstract: A new approach for simultaneously comparing sets of hyperspectral endmembers and proportion values using the Earth Movers Distance (EMD) is presented. First, the EMD is defined and calculated per-pixel based on the proportion values and corresponding endmembers. Next, these per-pixel EMD distances are aggregated to obtain a final measure of dissimilarity. In particular, the […]

Abstract: Variable illumination and environmental, atmospheric, and temporal conditions cause the measured spectral signature for a material to vary within hyperspectral imagery. By ignoring these variations, errors are introduced and propagated throughout hyperspectral image analysis. To develop accurate spectral unmixing and endmember estimation methods, a number of approaches that account for spectral variability have been […]

Abstract: A number of noteworthy techniques have been put forth recently in different research fields for comparing clusterings. Herein, we introduce a new method for comparing soft (fuzzy, probabilistic, and possibilistic) partitions based on the earth mover’s distance (EMD) and the ordered weighted average (OWA). The proposed method is a metric, depending on the ground […]