Fisher Discriminant Analysis for Extracting Interpretable Phenological Information From Multivariate Time Series Data

This article explores the use of Fisher discriminant analysis (FDA) as a method for extracting time-resolved information from multivariate environmental time series data. FDA is useful because it can be applied to multivariate input data and produces a transformation that is physically interpretable...

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Main Authors: Conor T. Doherty, Meagan S. Mauter
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10812678/
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author Conor T. Doherty
Meagan S. Mauter
author_facet Conor T. Doherty
Meagan S. Mauter
author_sort Conor T. Doherty
collection DOAJ
description This article explores the use of Fisher discriminant analysis (FDA) as a method for extracting time-resolved information from multivariate environmental time series data. FDA is useful because it can be applied to multivariate input data and produces a transformation that is physically interpretable. This article contains both theoretical and applied components. First, we use FDA to demonstrate the time dependence of information contained in remotely sensed data. Where curve-fitting and other commonly used data transformations are sensitive to variation throughout a full time series, we show how FDA identifies application-relevant variation in specific variables at specific points in time. Next, we apply FDA to estimate county-average corn planting dates in the U.S. corn belt. We find that using multivariate data inputs can reduce prediction root mean squared error (RMSE, in days) by 20% relative to models using only univariate inputs. We also compare FDA (which is linear) to nonlinear planting date estimation models based on curve-fitting and random forest (RF) estimators. We find that multivariate FDA models significantly improve on univariate curve-fitting and have comparable performance when using the same univariate inputs despite the linearity of FDA. We also find that FDA-based approaches have lower RMSE than RF in all configurations. Finally, we interpret FDA coefficients for individual measurements sensitive to vegetation density, land surface temperature, and soil moisture by relating them to physical mechanisms indicative of earlier or later planting.
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spelling doaj-art-07efa3b7420a4aa9b73e05427c73c6282025-01-21T00:00:47ZengIEEEIEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing1939-14042151-15352025-01-01183371338410.1109/JSTARS.2024.351741510812678Fisher Discriminant Analysis for Extracting Interpretable Phenological Information From Multivariate Time Series DataConor T. Doherty0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2637-0029Meagan S. Mauter1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4932-890XStanford University, Stanford, CA, USACivil and Environmental Engineering, Environmental Social Sciences, Precourt Institute for Energy, and Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USAThis article explores the use of Fisher discriminant analysis (FDA) as a method for extracting time-resolved information from multivariate environmental time series data. FDA is useful because it can be applied to multivariate input data and produces a transformation that is physically interpretable. This article contains both theoretical and applied components. First, we use FDA to demonstrate the time dependence of information contained in remotely sensed data. Where curve-fitting and other commonly used data transformations are sensitive to variation throughout a full time series, we show how FDA identifies application-relevant variation in specific variables at specific points in time. Next, we apply FDA to estimate county-average corn planting dates in the U.S. corn belt. We find that using multivariate data inputs can reduce prediction root mean squared error (RMSE, in days) by 20% relative to models using only univariate inputs. We also compare FDA (which is linear) to nonlinear planting date estimation models based on curve-fitting and random forest (RF) estimators. We find that multivariate FDA models significantly improve on univariate curve-fitting and have comparable performance when using the same univariate inputs despite the linearity of FDA. We also find that FDA-based approaches have lower RMSE than RF in all configurations. Finally, we interpret FDA coefficients for individual measurements sensitive to vegetation density, land surface temperature, and soil moisture by relating them to physical mechanisms indicative of earlier or later planting.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10812678/Fisher discriminant analysis (FDA)phenologyplanting datetime series data
spellingShingle Conor T. Doherty
Meagan S. Mauter
Fisher Discriminant Analysis for Extracting Interpretable Phenological Information From Multivariate Time Series Data
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
Fisher discriminant analysis (FDA)
phenology
planting date
time series data
title Fisher Discriminant Analysis for Extracting Interpretable Phenological Information From Multivariate Time Series Data
title_full Fisher Discriminant Analysis for Extracting Interpretable Phenological Information From Multivariate Time Series Data
title_fullStr Fisher Discriminant Analysis for Extracting Interpretable Phenological Information From Multivariate Time Series Data
title_full_unstemmed Fisher Discriminant Analysis for Extracting Interpretable Phenological Information From Multivariate Time Series Data
title_short Fisher Discriminant Analysis for Extracting Interpretable Phenological Information From Multivariate Time Series Data
title_sort fisher discriminant analysis for extracting interpretable phenological information from multivariate time series data
topic Fisher discriminant analysis (FDA)
phenology
planting date
time series data
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10812678/
work_keys_str_mv AT conortdoherty fisherdiscriminantanalysisforextractinginterpretablephenologicalinformationfrommultivariatetimeseriesdata
AT meagansmauter fisherdiscriminantanalysisforextractinginterpretablephenologicalinformationfrommultivariatetimeseriesdata