Earth Observation Satellite Imagery Information Based Decision Support Using Machine Learning

Abstract

This paper presented a review on the capabilities of machine learning algorithms toward Earth observation data modelling and information extraction. The main purpose was to identify new trends in the application of or research on machine learning and Earth observation—as well as to help researchers positioning new development in these domains, considering the latest peer-reviewed articles. A review of Earth observation concepts was presented, as well as current approaches and available data, followed by different machine learning applications and algorithms. Special attention was given to the contribution, potential and capabilities of Earth observation-machine learning approaches. The findings suggested that the combination of Earth observation and machine learning was successfully applied in several different fields across the world. Additionally, it was observed that all machine learning categories could be used to analyse Earth observation data or to improve acquisition processes and that RF, SVM, K-Means, NN (CNN and GAN) and A2C were among the most-used techniques. In conclusion, the combination of these technologies could prove to be crucial in a wide range of fields (e.g., agriculture, climate and biology) and should be further explored for each specific domain.