Inferring End‐Members From Geoscience Data Using Simplex Projected Gradient Descent‐Archetypal Analysis

Abstract End‐member mixing analysis (EMMA) is widely used to analyze geoscience data for their end‐members and mixing proportions. Many traditional EMMA methods depend on known end‐members, which are sometimes uncertain or unknown. Unsupervised EMMA methods infer end‐members from data, but many exis...

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Main Authors: Zanchenling Wang, Tao Wen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-06-01
Series:Journal of Geophysical Research: Machine Learning and Computation
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JH000540
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author Zanchenling Wang
Tao Wen
author_facet Zanchenling Wang
Tao Wen
author_sort Zanchenling Wang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract End‐member mixing analysis (EMMA) is widely used to analyze geoscience data for their end‐members and mixing proportions. Many traditional EMMA methods depend on known end‐members, which are sometimes uncertain or unknown. Unsupervised EMMA methods infer end‐members from data, but many existing ones don't strictly follow necessary constraints and lack full mathematical interpretability. Here, we introduce a novel unsupervised machine learning method, simplex projected gradient descent‐archetypal analysis (SPGD‐AA), which uses the ML model archetypal analysis to infer end‐members intuitively and interpretably without prior knowledge. SPGD‐AA uses extreme corners in data as end‐members or “archetypes,” and represents data as mixtures of end‐members. This method is most suitable for linear (conservative) mixing problems when samples with similar characteristics to end‐members are present in data. Validation on synthetic and real data sets, including river chemistry, deep‐sea sediment elemental composition, and hyperspectral imaging, shows that SPGD‐AA effectively recovers end‐members consistent with domain expertise and outperforms conventional approaches. SPGD‐AA is applicable to a wide range of geoscience data sets and beyond.
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spelling doaj-art-2cd8f9118e9b4d65b655fecc2fb3883e2025-08-20T03:27:22ZengWileyJournal of Geophysical Research: Machine Learning and Computation2993-52102025-06-0122n/an/a10.1029/2024JH000540Inferring End‐Members From Geoscience Data Using Simplex Projected Gradient Descent‐Archetypal AnalysisZanchenling Wang0Tao Wen1Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Syracuse University Syracuse NY USADepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences Syracuse University Syracuse NY USAAbstract End‐member mixing analysis (EMMA) is widely used to analyze geoscience data for their end‐members and mixing proportions. Many traditional EMMA methods depend on known end‐members, which are sometimes uncertain or unknown. Unsupervised EMMA methods infer end‐members from data, but many existing ones don't strictly follow necessary constraints and lack full mathematical interpretability. Here, we introduce a novel unsupervised machine learning method, simplex projected gradient descent‐archetypal analysis (SPGD‐AA), which uses the ML model archetypal analysis to infer end‐members intuitively and interpretably without prior knowledge. SPGD‐AA uses extreme corners in data as end‐members or “archetypes,” and represents data as mixtures of end‐members. This method is most suitable for linear (conservative) mixing problems when samples with similar characteristics to end‐members are present in data. Validation on synthetic and real data sets, including river chemistry, deep‐sea sediment elemental composition, and hyperspectral imaging, shows that SPGD‐AA effectively recovers end‐members consistent with domain expertise and outperforms conventional approaches. SPGD‐AA is applicable to a wide range of geoscience data sets and beyond.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JH000540end‐member mixing analysisarchetypal analysis
spellingShingle Zanchenling Wang
Tao Wen
Inferring End‐Members From Geoscience Data Using Simplex Projected Gradient Descent‐Archetypal Analysis
Journal of Geophysical Research: Machine Learning and Computation
end‐member mixing analysis
archetypal analysis
title Inferring End‐Members From Geoscience Data Using Simplex Projected Gradient Descent‐Archetypal Analysis
title_full Inferring End‐Members From Geoscience Data Using Simplex Projected Gradient Descent‐Archetypal Analysis
title_fullStr Inferring End‐Members From Geoscience Data Using Simplex Projected Gradient Descent‐Archetypal Analysis
title_full_unstemmed Inferring End‐Members From Geoscience Data Using Simplex Projected Gradient Descent‐Archetypal Analysis
title_short Inferring End‐Members From Geoscience Data Using Simplex Projected Gradient Descent‐Archetypal Analysis
title_sort inferring end members from geoscience data using simplex projected gradient descent archetypal analysis
topic end‐member mixing analysis
archetypal analysis
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JH000540
work_keys_str_mv AT zanchenlingwang inferringendmembersfromgeosciencedatausingsimplexprojectedgradientdescentarchetypalanalysis
AT taowen inferringendmembersfromgeosciencedatausingsimplexprojectedgradientdescentarchetypalanalysis