Work

From Prompts to Self-Prompts: Parameter-Efficient Multi-Label Remote Sensing via Mask-Guided Classification

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Multi-label remote sensing scene classification (MLRSSC) requires autonomous discovery of all relevant land-cover categories without human guidance. Conventional expert classifiers return only label vectors without spatial evidence, while foundation segmenters (e.g., SAM, RemoteSAM) remain passively dependent on external prompts—misaligned with autonomous interpretation. We introduce SAFI-XRS, a parameter-efficient self-prompted framework that transforms passive prompting into active scene parsing. By training only <2% of a 332M-parameter segmenter (∼2.4M parameters), SAFI-XRS generates class-aligned queries from images via a Semantic Query Generator (SQR), replacing external prompts with self-generated conditioning. A Mask-Guided Classifier (MGC) aggregates spatial evidence into label confidences, enabling mask-based explainability. Experiments on UCM-ML, DFC15-ML, and AID-ML show SAFI-XRS surpasses text-prompted foundation segmenters (+3.9/+3.8 mAP on balanced datasets) while achieving 6.8× parameter efficiency compared to expert models, validating a practical path toward autonomous, explainable RS scene understanding.

Source: Remote Sensing

DOI: 10.3390/rs18030518

Authors: Ge Qu, Xiongwei Guan, Fei Wen, Xinyu Zou

Institutions: Liaoning Technical University, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research

Language: English

Topic: Remote-Sensing Image Classification

Subfield: Media Technology

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,258

Funder: Chinese Academy of Sciences