Geological object recognition in legacy maps through data augmentation and transfer learning techniques

Maps are crucial tools in geosciences, providing detailed representations of the spatial distribution and relationships among geological features. Accurate recognition and classification of geological objects within these maps are essential for applications in resource exploration, environmental man...

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Main Authors: Wenjia Li, Weilin Chen, Jiyin Zhang, Chenhao Li, Xiaogang Ma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-02-01
Series:Applied Computing and Geosciences
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590197425000151
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author Wenjia Li
Weilin Chen
Jiyin Zhang
Chenhao Li
Xiaogang Ma
author_facet Wenjia Li
Weilin Chen
Jiyin Zhang
Chenhao Li
Xiaogang Ma
author_sort Wenjia Li
collection DOAJ
description Maps are crucial tools in geosciences, providing detailed representations of the spatial distribution and relationships among geological features. Accurate recognition and classification of geological objects within these maps are essential for applications in resource exploration, environmental management, and geological hazard assessment. Along the years, many legacy geological maps have been accumulated, and many of them are not in data formats ready for machines to read and analyze. The inherent diversity and complexity of geological features, combined with the labor-intensive process of manual annotation, pose significant challenges in the usage of those maps. This study addresses these challenges by proposing an innovative approach that leverages legend data for data augmentation and employs transfer learning techniques to improve the quality of object recognition. Legend data from geological maps offer standardized symbols and annotations. Using them to augment existing datasets increases the diversity and volume of training data, thereby enhances the model's ability to generalize across various geological contexts. A deep learning model called EfficientNet is then fine-tuned using the augmented dataset to recognize and classify geological features more accurately. The model's performance is evaluated based on accuracy, recall, and F1-score, with results showing significant improvements, particularly for datasets with texture-rich information. The proposed method demonstrates that the combination of data augmentation and transfer learning significantly enhances the accuracy and efficiency of geological object recognition. This approach not only reduces the manual effort needed for geological object recognition but also contributes to the advancement of geological mapping and analysis.
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spelling doaj-art-21e4e6558cc14e1a996cc7e88b3e1b9f2025-08-20T02:40:40ZengElsevierApplied Computing and Geosciences2590-19742025-02-012510023310.1016/j.acags.2025.100233Geological object recognition in legacy maps through data augmentation and transfer learning techniquesWenjia Li0Weilin Chen1Jiyin Zhang2Chenhao Li3Xiaogang Ma4Department of Computer Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83842, USADepartment of Computer Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83842, USADepartment of Computer Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83842, USADepartment of Computer Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83842, USACorresponding author.; Department of Computer Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83842, USAMaps are crucial tools in geosciences, providing detailed representations of the spatial distribution and relationships among geological features. Accurate recognition and classification of geological objects within these maps are essential for applications in resource exploration, environmental management, and geological hazard assessment. Along the years, many legacy geological maps have been accumulated, and many of them are not in data formats ready for machines to read and analyze. The inherent diversity and complexity of geological features, combined with the labor-intensive process of manual annotation, pose significant challenges in the usage of those maps. This study addresses these challenges by proposing an innovative approach that leverages legend data for data augmentation and employs transfer learning techniques to improve the quality of object recognition. Legend data from geological maps offer standardized symbols and annotations. Using them to augment existing datasets increases the diversity and volume of training data, thereby enhances the model's ability to generalize across various geological contexts. A deep learning model called EfficientNet is then fine-tuned using the augmented dataset to recognize and classify geological features more accurately. The model's performance is evaluated based on accuracy, recall, and F1-score, with results showing significant improvements, particularly for datasets with texture-rich information. The proposed method demonstrates that the combination of data augmentation and transfer learning significantly enhances the accuracy and efficiency of geological object recognition. This approach not only reduces the manual effort needed for geological object recognition but also contributes to the advancement of geological mapping and analysis.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590197425000151Legacy geological mapObject recognitionMap legendData augmentationTransfer learning
spellingShingle Wenjia Li
Weilin Chen
Jiyin Zhang
Chenhao Li
Xiaogang Ma
Geological object recognition in legacy maps through data augmentation and transfer learning techniques
Applied Computing and Geosciences
Legacy geological map
Object recognition
Map legend
Data augmentation
Transfer learning
title Geological object recognition in legacy maps through data augmentation and transfer learning techniques
title_full Geological object recognition in legacy maps through data augmentation and transfer learning techniques
title_fullStr Geological object recognition in legacy maps through data augmentation and transfer learning techniques
title_full_unstemmed Geological object recognition in legacy maps through data augmentation and transfer learning techniques
title_short Geological object recognition in legacy maps through data augmentation and transfer learning techniques
title_sort geological object recognition in legacy maps through data augmentation and transfer learning techniques
topic Legacy geological map
Object recognition
Map legend
Data augmentation
Transfer learning
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590197425000151
work_keys_str_mv AT wenjiali geologicalobjectrecognitioninlegacymapsthroughdataaugmentationandtransferlearningtechniques
AT weilinchen geologicalobjectrecognitioninlegacymapsthroughdataaugmentationandtransferlearningtechniques
AT jiyinzhang geologicalobjectrecognitioninlegacymapsthroughdataaugmentationandtransferlearningtechniques
AT chenhaoli geologicalobjectrecognitioninlegacymapsthroughdataaugmentationandtransferlearningtechniques
AT xiaogangma geologicalobjectrecognitioninlegacymapsthroughdataaugmentationandtransferlearningtechniques