Probabilistic machine learning for noisy labels in Earth observation

Label noise poses a significant challenge in Earth Observation (EO), often degrading the performance and reliability of supervised Machine Learning (ML) models. Yet, given the critical nature of several EO applications, developing robust and trustworthy ML solutions is essential. In this study, we t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 35890 - 17
Main Authors: Kondylatos, Spyros, Bountos, Nikolaos Ioannis, Prapas, Ioannis, Zavras, Angelos, Camps-Valls, Gustau, Papoutsis, Ioannis
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 14.10.2025
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Portfolio
Subjects:
639/166
639/705
Classification
Datasets
Decision making
Deep learning
Earth
Emergency communications systems
Epistemology
Humanities and Social Sciences
Learning algorithms
Machine learning
Mathematical models
multidisciplinary
Neural networks
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
ISSN:2045-2322, 2045-2322
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Label noise poses a significant challenge in Earth Observation (EO), often degrading the performance and reliability of supervised Machine Learning (ML) models. Yet, given the critical nature of several EO applications, developing robust and trustworthy ML solutions is essential. In this study, we take a step in this direction by leveraging probabilistic ML to model input-dependent label noise and quantify data uncertainty in EO tasks, accounting for the unique noise sources inherent in the domain. We train uncertainty-aware probabilistic models across a broad range of high-impact EO applications—spanning diverse noise sources, input modalities, and ML configurations—and introduce a dedicated pipeline to assess their accuracy and reliability. Our experimental results show that the uncertainty-aware models outperform standard deterministic approaches across most datasets and evaluation metrics. Moreover, through rigorous uncertainty evaluation, we validate the reliability of the predicted uncertainty estimates, enhancing the interpretability of model predictions. Our findings emphasize the importance of modeling label noise and incorporating uncertainty quantification in EO, paving the way for more reliable solutions in the field.
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ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-025-19781-2