Interpretable land cover classification with modal decision trees

ABSTRACTLand cover classification (LCC) refers to the task of classifying each pixel in satellite/aerial imagery by predicting a label carrying information about its nature. Despite the importance of having transparent, symbolic decision models, in the recent literature, LCC has been mainly approach...

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Main Authors: G. Pagliarini, G. Sciavicco
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023-12-01
Series:European Journal of Remote Sensing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22797254.2023.2262738
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author G. Pagliarini
G. Sciavicco
author_facet G. Pagliarini
G. Sciavicco
author_sort G. Pagliarini
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACTLand cover classification (LCC) refers to the task of classifying each pixel in satellite/aerial imagery by predicting a label carrying information about its nature. Despite the importance of having transparent, symbolic decision models, in the recent literature, LCC has been mainly approached with black-box functional models, that are able to leverage the spatial dimensions within the data. In this article, we argue that standard symbolic decision models can be extended to perform a form of spatial reasoning that is adequate for LCC. We propose a generalization of a classical decision tree learning model, based on replacing propositional logic with a modal spatial logic, and provide a CART-like learning algorithm for it. We evaluate its performance at five different LCC tasks, showing that this technique leads to classification models whose performances are superior to those of their propositional counterpart, and at least comparable with those of non-symbolic ones. Ultimately, we show that spatial decision trees and random forests are able to extract complex, but interpretable spatial patterns.
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spelling doaj.art-2c3ff7a1842c44dabccd3ff7044db7fc2023-12-18T12:26:50ZengTaylor & Francis GroupEuropean Journal of Remote Sensing2279-72542023-12-0156110.1080/22797254.2023.2262738Interpretable land cover classification with modal decision treesG. Pagliarini0G. Sciavicco1Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, ItalyDepartment of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, ItalyABSTRACTLand cover classification (LCC) refers to the task of classifying each pixel in satellite/aerial imagery by predicting a label carrying information about its nature. Despite the importance of having transparent, symbolic decision models, in the recent literature, LCC has been mainly approached with black-box functional models, that are able to leverage the spatial dimensions within the data. In this article, we argue that standard symbolic decision models can be extended to perform a form of spatial reasoning that is adequate for LCC. We propose a generalization of a classical decision tree learning model, based on replacing propositional logic with a modal spatial logic, and provide a CART-like learning algorithm for it. We evaluate its performance at five different LCC tasks, showing that this technique leads to classification models whose performances are superior to those of their propositional counterpart, and at least comparable with those of non-symbolic ones. Ultimately, we show that spatial decision trees and random forests are able to extract complex, but interpretable spatial patterns.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22797254.2023.2262738Interpretable machine learningmodal logicdecision tree learninghyperspectral image classificationland useland cover
spellingShingle G. Pagliarini
G. Sciavicco
Interpretable land cover classification with modal decision trees
European Journal of Remote Sensing
Interpretable machine learning
modal logic
decision tree learning
hyperspectral image classification
land use
land cover
title Interpretable land cover classification with modal decision trees
title_full Interpretable land cover classification with modal decision trees
title_fullStr Interpretable land cover classification with modal decision trees
title_full_unstemmed Interpretable land cover classification with modal decision trees
title_short Interpretable land cover classification with modal decision trees
title_sort interpretable land cover classification with modal decision trees
topic Interpretable machine learning
modal logic
decision tree learning
hyperspectral image classification
land use
land cover
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22797254.2023.2262738
work_keys_str_mv AT gpagliarini interpretablelandcoverclassificationwithmodaldecisiontrees
AT gsciavicco interpretablelandcoverclassificationwithmodaldecisiontrees