On Enhanced Ensemble Learning for Multimodal Remote Sensing Data Analysis by Capacity Optimization

International audienceMultimodal remote sensing data analysis can strongly improve the characterization of physical phenomena on Earth's surface. Nonetheless, nonidealities and estimation imperfections between records and investigation models can limit its information extraction ability. Ensemble learning could be used to tackle these issues. Combining the information acquired by multiple weak classifiers can prevent the analysis of large scale heterogeneous datasets from being affected by overfitting and biasing. In this paper, we introduce an enhanced ensemble learning scheme where the information acquired by the weak classifiers is combined to optimize the maximum information extraction for the given system at a decision level. Using an asymptotic information theory-based approach, we define the capacity index associated with the maximum accuracy that can be achieved under optimal conditions for multimodal analysis. By selecting the decisions delivered by the different classifiers according to the capacity optimization, the performance of the ensemble learning scheme will be maximized