# Improving satellite imagery segmentation using multiple Sentinel-2 revisits

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.17363 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.17363/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 24 of its 45 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 25 Sep 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 24 of 24)

- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [An Image is Worth 16x16 Words: Transformers for Image Recognition at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.11929/) (2020)
- [U-Net: Convolutional Networks for Biomedical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1505.04597/) (2015)
- [Swin Transformer: Hierarchical Vision Transformer using Shifted Windows](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.14030/) (2021)
- [Momentum Contrast for Unsupervised Visual Representation Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.05722/) (2019)
- [Emerging Properties in Self-Supervised Vision Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.14294/) (2021)
- [EuroSAT: A Novel Dataset and Deep Learning Benchmark for Land Use and Land Cover Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1709.00029/) (2017)
- [Functional Map of the World](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.07846/) (2017)
- [BigEarthNet: A Large-Scale Benchmark Archive For Remote Sensing Image Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1902.06148/) (2019)
- [Seasonal Contrast: Unsupervised Pre-Training from Uncurated Remote Sensing Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.16607/) (2021)
- [SatlasPretrain: A Large-Scale Dataset for Remote Sensing Image Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.15660/) (2022)
- [Foundation Models for Generalist Geospatial Artificial Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.18660/) (2023)
- [Panoptic Segmentation of Satellite Image Time Series with Convolutional Temporal Attention Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.07933/) (2021)
- [GEO-Bench: Toward Foundation Models for Earth Monitoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.03831/) (2023)
- [RoadTracer: Automatic Extraction of Road Networks from Aerial Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.03680/) (2018)
- [Mission Critical -- Satellite Data is a Distinct Modality in Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.01444/) (2024)
- [TorchGeo: Deep Learning With Geospatial Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.08872/) (2021)
- [xView3-SAR: Detecting Dark Fishing Activity Using Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.00897/) (2022)
- [PhilEO Bench: Evaluating Geo-Spatial Foundation Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.04464/) (2024)
- [So2Sat LCZ42: A Benchmark Dataset for Global Local Climate Zones Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.12171/) (2019)
- [Application-Driven Innovation in Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.17381/) (2024)
- [Human-Machine Collaboration for Fast Land Cover Mapping](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.04176/) (2019)
- [Fast building segmentation from satellite imagery and few local labels](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.05377/) (2022)
- [GridTracer: Automatic Mapping of Power Grids using Deep Learning and Overhead Imagery](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.06390/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [GEO-Bench-2: From Performance to Capability, Rethinking Evaluation in Geospatial AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.15658/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In recent years, analysis of remote sensing data has benefited immensely from borrowing techniques from the broader field of computer vision, such as the use of shared models pre-trained on large and diverse datasets. However, satellite imagery has unique features that are not accounted for in traditional computer vision, such as the existence of multiple revisits of the same location. Here, we explore the best way to use revisits in the framework of fine-tuning pre-trained remote sensing models. We focus on an applied research question of relevance to climate change mitigation -- power substation segmentation -- that is representative of applied uses of pre-trained models more generally. Through extensive tests of different multi-temporal input schemes across diverse model architectures, we find that fusing representations from multiple revisits in the model latent space is superior to other methods of using revisits, including as a form of data augmentation. We also find that a SWIN Transformer-based architecture performs better than U-nets and ViT-based models. We verify the generality of our results on a separate building density estimation task.