# PalmProbNet: A Probabilistic Approach to Understanding Palm Distributions in Ecuadorian Tropical Forest via Transfer Learning

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.03161 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.03161/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 6 of its 27 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 5 Mar 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 6 of 6)

- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [Object Detection in 20 Years: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.05055/) (2019)
- [Object Detection with Deep Learning: A Review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1807.05511/) (2018)
- [A Review on Deep Learning in UAV Remote Sensing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.10861/) (2021)
- [Superpixel-based and Spatially-regularized Diffusion Learning for Unsupervised Hyperspectral Image Clustering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.15447/) (2023)
- [Semi-supervised Change Detection of Small Water Bodies Using RGB and Multispectral Images in Peruvian Rainforests](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.09365/) (2022)

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [Detection and Geographic Localization of Natural Objects in the Wild: A Case Study on Palms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.13023/) (2025)
- [Real-Time Localization and Bimodal Point Pattern Analysis of Palms Using UAV Imagery](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.11124/) (2024)
- [From Orthomosaics to Raw UAV Imagery: Enhancing Palm Detection and Crown-Center Localization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.12400/) (2025)
- [Learning Where to Embed: Noise-Aware Positional Embedding for Query Retrieval in Small-Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.15065/) (2026)
- [Cott-ADNet: Lightweight Real-Time Cotton Boll and Flower Detection Under Field Conditions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.12442/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Palms play an outsized role in tropical forests and are important resources for humans and wildlife. A central question in tropical ecosystems is understanding palm distribution and abundance. However, accurately identifying and localizing palms in geospatial imagery presents significant challenges due to dense vegetation, overlapping canopies, and variable lighting conditions in mixed-forest landscapes. Addressing this, we introduce PalmProbNet, a probabilistic approach utilizing transfer learning to analyze high-resolution UAV-derived orthomosaic imagery, enabling the detection of palm trees within the dense canopy of the Ecuadorian Rainforest. This approach represents a substantial advancement in automated palm detection, effectively pinpointing palm presence and locality in mixed tropical rainforests. Our process begins by generating an orthomosaic image from UAV images, from which we extract and label palm and non-palm image patches in two distinct sizes. These patches are then used to train models with an identical architecture, consisting of an unaltered pre-trained ResNet-18 and a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) with specifically trained parameters. Subsequently, PalmProbNet employs a sliding window technique on the landscape orthomosaic, using both small and large window sizes to generate a probability heatmap. This heatmap effectively visualizes the distribution of palms, showcasing the scalability and adaptability of our approach in various forest densities. Despite the challenging terrain, our method demonstrated remarkable performance, achieving an accuracy of 97.32% and a Cohen's kappa of 94.59% in testing.