Weather Classification by Utilizing Synthetic Data.

Journal: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
Published Date:

Abstract

Weather prediction from real-world images can be termed a complex task when targeting classification using neural networks. Moreover, the number of images throughout the available datasets can contain a huge amount of variance when comparing locations with the weather those images are representing. In this article, the capabilities of a custom built driver simulator are explored specifically to simulate a wide range of weather conditions. Moreover, the performance of a new synthetic dataset generated by the above simulator is also assessed. The results indicate that the use of synthetic datasets in conjunction with real-world datasets can increase the training efficiency of the CNNs by as much as 74%. The article paves a way forward to tackle the persistent problem of bias in vision-based datasets.

Authors

  • Saad Minhas
    School of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK.
  • Zeba Khanam
    School of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK.
  • Shoaib Ehsan
    School of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK.
  • Klaus McDonald-Maier
    School of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK.
  • Aura Hernández-Sabaté
    Computer Vision Centre, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Plaça Cívica, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.