# Simultaneous Automatic Picking and Manual Picking Refinement for First-Break

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.01474 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.01474/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 13 of its 69 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 3 Feb 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 13 of 13)

- [U-Net: Convolutional Networks for Biomedical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1505.04597/) (2015)
- [Making Deep Neural Networks Robust to Label Noise: a Loss Correction Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1609.03683/) (2016)
- [Learning from Noisy Labels with Deep Neural Networks: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.08199/) (2020)
- [Learning from Noisy Labels with Distillation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.02391/) (2017)
- [Learning From Noisy Large-Scale Datasets With Minimal Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1701.01619/) (2017)
- [Iterative Learning with Open-set Noisy Labels](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1804.00092/) (2018)
- [Meta Label Correction for Noisy Label Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.03809/) (2019)
- [Toward Robustness against Label Noise in Training Deep Discriminative Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.00038/) (2017)
- [Simultaneous Edge Alignment and Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1808.01992/) (2018)
- [Total-variation regularization strategies in full-waveform inversion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1608.06159/) (2016)
- [Weak deep priors for seismic imaging](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.06835/) (2020)
- [Compound Regularization of Full-waveform Inversion for Imaging Piecewise Media](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.04405/) (2019)
- [Implementing bound constraints and total-variation regularization in extended full waveform inversion with the alternating direction method of multiplier: application to large contrast media](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1902.02744/) (2019)

## Abstract (arXiv)

First-break picking is a pivotal procedure in processing microseismic data for geophysics and resource exploration. Recent advancements in deep learning have catalyzed the evolution of automated methods for identifying first-break. Nevertheless, the complexity of seismic data acquisition and the requirement for detailed, expert-driven labeling often result in outliers and potential mislabeling within manually labeled datasets. These issues can negatively affect the training of neural networks, necessitating algorithms that handle outliers or mislabeled data effectively. We introduce the Simultaneous Picking and Refinement (SPR) algorithm, designed to handle datasets plagued by outlier samples or even noisy labels. Unlike conventional approaches that regard manual picks as ground truth, our method treats the true first-break as a latent variable within a probabilistic model that includes a first-break labeling prior. SPR aims to uncover this variable, enabling dynamic adjustments and improved accuracy across the dataset. This strategy mitigates the impact of outliers or inaccuracies in manual labels. Intra-site picking experiments and cross-site generalization experiments on publicly available data confirm our method's performance in identifying first-break and its generalization across different sites. Additionally, our investigations into noisy signals and labels underscore SPR's resilience to both types of noise and its capability to refine misaligned manual annotations. Moreover, the flexibility of SPR, not being limited to any single network architecture, enhances its adaptability across various deep learning-based picking methods. Focusing on learning from data that may contain outliers or partial inaccuracies, SPR provides a robust solution to some of the principal obstacles in automatic first-break picking.