In accordance with the urban reconstruction problem proposed by the DFC23 Track 2 Contest, this paper attempts a multitask-learning method of building extraction and height estimation using both optical and radar satellite imagery. Contrary to the initial goal of multitask learning which could potentially give a superior solution by reusing features and forming implicit constraints between multiple tasks, this paper reports the individual implementation of the building extraction and height estimation under constraints. The baseline results for the building extraction and the height estimation significantly increased after designed experiments.

Dictionary learning can be used for image superresolution by learning a pair of coupled dictionaries of image patches from high-resolution and low-resolution image pairs such that the corresponding pairs share the same sparse vector when represented by the coupled dictionaries. These dictionaries then can be used to to reconstruct the corresponding high-resolution patches from low-resolution input images based on sparse recovery. The idea is to recover the shared sparse vector using the low-resolution dictionary and then multiply it by the high-resolution dictionary to recover the corresponding high-resolution image patch. In this work, we study the effect of the sparse recovery algorithm that we use on the quality of the reconstructed images. We offer empirical experiments to search for the best sparse recovery algorithm that can be used for this purpose. Image super-resolution is an important problem in computer vision due to its numerous practical applications and significant impact on various domains. Super-resolution techniques can significantly enhance the visual quality of images by increasing their resolution without improving the imaging device. This is particularly valuable in applications where high-quality images are crucial, such as medical imaging, satellite imagery, and surveillance.

Real estate is a critical sector in Thailand's economy, which has led to a growing demand for a more accurate land price prediction approach. Traditional methods of land price prediction, such as the weighted quality score (WQS), are limited due to their reliance on subjective criteria and their lack of consideration for spatial variables. In this study, we utilize aerial or satellite imageries from Google Map API to enhance land price prediction models from the dataset provided by Kasikorn Business Technology Group (KBTG). We propose a similarity-based asset valuation model that uses a Siamese-inspired Neural Network with pretrained EfficientNet architecture to assess the similarity between pairs of lands. By ensembling deep learning and tree-based models, we achieve an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of approximately 0.81, outperforming the baseline model that used only tabular data. The appraisal prices of nearby lands with similarity scores higher than a predefined threshold were used for weighted averaging to predict the reasonable price of the land in question. At 20\% mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), we improve the recall from 59.26\% to 69.55\%, indicating a more accurate and reliable approach to predicting land prices. Our model, which is empowered by a more comprehensive view of land use and environmental factors from aerial or satellite imageries, provides a more precise, data-driven, and adaptive approach for land valuation in Thailand.

Cities play an important role in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) to promote economic growth and meet social needs. Especially satellite imagery is a potential data source for studying sustainable urban development. However, a comprehensive dataset in the United States (U.S.) covering multiple cities, multiple years, multiple scales, and multiple indicators for SDG monitoring is lacking. To support the research on SDGs in U.S. cities, we develop a satellite imagery dataset using deep learning models for five SDGs containing 25 sustainable development indicators. The proposed dataset covers the 100 most populated U.S. cities and corresponding Census Block Groups from 2014 to 2023. Specifically, we collect satellite imagery and identify objects with state-of-the-art object detection and semantic segmentation models to observe cities' bird's-eye view. We further gather population, nighttime light, survey, and built environment data to depict SDGs regarding poverty, health, education, inequality, and living environment. We anticipate the dataset to help urban policymakers and researchers to advance SDGs-related studies, especially applying satellite imagery to monitor long-term and multi-scale SDGs in cities.

Any policy-level decision-making procedure and academic research involving the optimum use of resources for development and planning initiatives depends on accurate population density statistics. The current cutting-edge datasets offered by WorldPop and Meta do not succeed in achieving this aim for developing nations like Pakistan; the inputs to their algorithms provide flawed estimates that fail to capture the spatial and land-use dynamics. In order to precisely estimate population counts at a resolution of 30 meters by 30 meters, we use an accurate built settlement mask obtained using deep segmentation networks and satellite imagery. The Points of Interest (POI) data is also used to exclude non-residential areas.

Onboard sensors, such as cameras and thermal sensors, have emerged as effective alternatives to Global Positioning System (GPS) for geo-localization in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) navigation. Since GPS can suffer from signal loss and spoofing problems, researchers have explored camera-based techniques such as Visual Geo-localization (VG) using satellite RGB imagery. Additionally, thermal geo-localization (TG) has become crucial for long-range UAV flights in low-illumination environments. This paper proposes a novel thermal geo-localization framework using satellite RGB imagery, which includes multiple domain adaptation methods to address the limited availability of paired thermal and satellite images. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in achieving reliable thermal geo-localization performance, even in thermal images with indistinct self-similar features. We evaluate our approach on real data collected onboard a UAV. We also release the code and \textit{Boson-nighttime}, a dataset of paired satellite-thermal and unpaired satellite images for thermal geo-localization with satellite imagery. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first to propose a thermal geo-localization method using satellite RGB imagery in long-range flights.

This study explores the application of self-supervised learning (SSL) for improved target recognition in synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) imagery. The unique challenges of underwater environments make traditional computer vision techniques, which rely heavily on optical camera imagery, less effective. SAS, with its ability to generate high-resolution imagery, emerges as a preferred choice for underwater imaging. However, the voluminous high-resolution SAS data presents a significant challenge for labeling; a crucial step for training deep neural networks (DNNs). SSL, which enables models to learn features in data without the need for labels, is proposed as a potential solution to the data labeling challenge in SAS. The study evaluates the performance of two prominent SSL algorithms, MoCov2 and BYOL, against the well-regarded supervised learning model, ResNet18, for binary image classification tasks. The findings suggest that while both SSL models can outperform a fully supervised model with access to a small number of labels in a few-shot scenario, they do not exceed it when all the labels are used. The results underscore the potential of SSL as a viable alternative to traditional supervised learning, capable of maintaining task performance while reducing the time and costs associated with data labeling. The study also contributes to the growing body of evidence supporting the use of SSL in remote sensing and could stimulate further research in this area.

Image registration is the process of bringing different images into a common coordinate system - a technique widely used in various applications of computer vision, such as remote sensing, image retrieval, and, most commonly, medical imaging. Deep learning based techniques have been applied successfully to tackle various complex medical image processing problems, including medical image registration. Over the years, several image registration techniques have been proposed using deep learning. Deformable image registration techniques such as Voxelmorph have been successful in capturing finer changes and providing smoother deformations. However, Voxelmorph, as well as ICNet and FIRE, do not explicitly encode global dependencies (i.e. the overall anatomical view of the supplied image) and, therefore, cannot track large deformations. In order to tackle the aforementioned problems, this paper extends the Voxelmorph approach in three different ways. To improve the performance in case of small as well as large deformations, supervision of the model at different resolutions has been integrated using a multi-scale UNet. To support the network to learn and encode the minute structural co-relations of the given image-pairs, a self-constructing graph network (SCGNet) has been used as the latent of the multi-scale UNet - which can improve the learning process of the model and help the model to generalise better. And finally, to make the deformations inverse-consistent, cycle consistency loss has been employed. On the task of registration of brain MRIs, the proposed method achieved significant improvements over ANTs and VoxelMorph, obtaining a Dice score of 0.8013 \pm 0.0243 for intramodal and 0.6211 \pm 0.0309 for intermodal, while VoxelMorph achieved 0.7747 \pm 0.0260 and 0.6071 \pm 0.0510, respectively

The growing interest in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from both scientific and industrial sectors has attracted a wave of new researchers and substantial investments in this expansive field. However, due to the wide range of topics and subdomains within UAV research, newcomers may find themselves overwhelmed by the numerous options available. It is therefore crucial for those involved in UAV research to recognize its interdisciplinary nature and its connections with other disciplines. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the UAV field, highlighting recent trends and advancements. Drawing on recent literature reviews and surveys, the review begins by classifying UAVs based on their flight characteristics. It then provides an overview of current research trends in UAVs, utilizing data from the Scopus database to quantify the number of scientific documents associated with each research direction and their interconnections. The paper also explores potential areas for further development in UAVs, including communication, artificial intelligence, remote sensing, miniaturization, swarming and cooperative control, and transformability. Additionally, it discusses the development of aircraft control, commonly used control techniques, and appropriate control algorithms in UAV research. Furthermore, the paper addresses the general hardware and software architecture of UAVs, their applications, and the key issues associated with them. It also provides an overview of current open-source software and hardware projects in the UAV field. By presenting a comprehensive view of the UAV field, this paper aims to enhance understanding of this rapidly evolving and highly interdisciplinary area of research.

Garbage disposal is a challenging problem throughout the developed world. In Cyprus, as elsewhere, illegal ``fly-tipping" is a significant issue, especially in rural areas where few legal garbage disposal options exist. However, there is a lack of studies that attempt to measure the scale of this problem, and few resources available to address it. A method of automating the process of identifying garbage dumps would help counter this and provide information to the relevant authorities. The aim of this study was to investigate the degree to which artificial intelligence techniques, together with satellite imagery, can be used to identify illegal garbage dumps in the rural areas of Cyprus. This involved collecting a novel dataset of images that could be categorised as either containing, or not containing, garbage. The collection of such datasets in sufficient raw quantities is time consuming and costly. Therefore a relatively modest baseline set of images was collected, then data augmentation techniques used to increase the size of this dataset to a point where useful machine learning could occur. From this set of images an artificial neural network was trained to recognise the presence or absence of garbage in new images. A type of neural network especially suited to this task known as ``convolutional neural networks" was used. The efficacy of the resulting model was evaluated using an independently collected dataset of test images. The result was a deep learning model that could correctly identify images containing garbage in approximately 90\% of cases. It is envisaged that this model could form the basis of a future system that could systematically analyse the entire landscape of Cyprus to build a comprehensive ``garbage" map of the island.