# Simultaneously sparse and low-rank abundance matrix estimation for hyperspectral image unmixing

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1504.01515 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1504.01515/

## Key facts

- Cited by 8 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 7 Apr 2015.

## Built on by (most cited first, 8 of 8)

- [Image Processing and Machine Learning for Hyperspectral Unmixing: An Overview and the HySUPP Python Package](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.09375/) (2023)
- [Using Low-rank Representation of Abundance Maps and Nonnegative Tensor Factorization for Hyperspectral Nonlinear Unmixing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.16204/) (2021)
- [Block-Term Tensor Decomposition Model Selection and Computation: The Bayesian Way](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.02931/) (2021)
- [AE-RED: A Hyperspectral Unmixing Framework Powered by Deep Autoencoder and Regularization by Denoising](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.00269/) (2023)
- [Spectral Variability Augmented Sparse Unmixing of Hyperspectral Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.09744/) (2021)
- [Recovering Simultaneously Structured Data via Non-Convex Iteratively Reweighted Least Squares](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.04961/) (2023)
- [Latent Mode Decomposition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.17797/) (2025)
- [MiSiSUn: Minimum Simplex Semisupervised Unmixing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.20263/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In a plethora of applications dealing with inverse problems, e.g. in image processing, social networks, compressive sensing, biological data processing etc., the signal of interest is known to be structured in several ways at the same time. This premise has recently guided the research to the innovative and meaningful idea of imposing multiple constraints on the parameters involved in the problem under study. For instance, when dealing with problems whose parameters form sparse and low-rank matrices, the adoption of suitably combined constraints imposing sparsity and low-rankness, is expected to yield substantially enhanced estimation results. In this paper, we address the spectral unmixing problem in hyperspectral images. Specifically, two novel unmixing algorithms are introduced, in an attempt to exploit both spatial correlation and sparse representation of pixels lying in homogeneous regions of hyperspectral images. To this end, a novel convex mixed penalty term is first defined consisting of the sum of the weighted ℓ1 and the weighted nuclear norm of the abundance matrix corresponding to a small area of the image determined by a sliding square window. This penalty term is then used to regularize a conventional quadratic cost function and impose simultaneously sparsity and row-rankness on the abundance matrix. The resulting regularized cost function is minimized by a) an incremental proximal sparse and low-rank unmixing algorithm and b) an algorithm based on the alternating minimization method of multipliers (ADMM). The effectiveness of the proposed algorithms is illustrated in experiments conducted both on simulated and real data.