Work

A Hybrid Dropout Method for High-Precision Seafloor Topography Reconstruction and Uncertainty Quantification

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Seafloor topography super-resolution reconstruction is critical for marine resource exploration, geological monitoring, and navigation safety. However, sparse acoustic data frequently result in the loss of high-frequency details, and traditional deep learning models exhibit limitations in uncertainty quantification, impeding their practical application. To address these challenges, this study systematically investigates the combined effects of various regularization strategies and uncertainty quantification modules. It proposes a hybrid dropout model that jointly optimizes high-precision reconstruction and uncertainty estimation. The model integrates residual blocks, squeeze-and-excitation (SE) modules, and a multi-scale feature extraction network while employing Monte Carlo Dropout (MC-Dropout) alongside heteroscedastic noise modeling to dynamically gate the uncertainty quantification process. By adaptively modulating the regularization strength based on feature activations, the model preserves high-frequency information and accurately estimates predictive uncertainty. The experimental results demonstrate significant improvements in the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), and Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR). Compared to conventional dropout architectures, the proposed method achieves a PSNR increase of 46.5% to 60.5% in test regions with a marked reduction in artifacts. Overall, the synergistic effect of employed regularization strategies and uncertainty quantification modules substantially enhances detail recovery and robustness in complex seafloor topography reconstruction, offering valuable theoretical insights and practical guidance for further optimization of deep learning models in challenging applications.

Source: Applied Sciences

DOI: 10.3390/app15116113

Authors: Xinye Cui, Houpu Li, Yanting Yu, Shaofeng Bian, Guojun Zhai

Institutions: Naval University of Engineering, China University of Geosciences

Language: English

Topic: Underwater Acoustics Research

Subfield: Oceanography

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,896

Funder: National Natural Science Foundation of China