Physics-Based Artificial Intelligence in Earth Observation

Webinar Speaker:

Prof. Fabio Del Frate

Affiliation:

Tor Vergata University of Rome

  • 10 December 2025
  • 16:00 UTC
  • Sponsored by GRSS
  • MIRS - TC Webinar

About the Webinar

The webinar presents a comprehensive argument for integrating Physics-Informed Artificial Intelligence (AI) into Earth Observation, asserting that maintaining contact with fundamental physics is essential for designing robust and dependable models. It is suggested that AI should move beyond being a “black box” by employing techniques like loss functions that encode physical laws and by integrating physics layers within deep neural network architectures. A primary strategy involves using simulation models, such as Radiative Transfer Models, to solve the Forward Problem—predicting observations from known physical states—thereby generating synthetic, physics-consistent data for training purposes. This approach is critical for tackling the ill-posed Inverse Problem, which involves retrieving geophysical parameters from sensor measurements, where AI adds significant value by uncovering complex, non-linear relationships. The principles are demonstrated through detailed examples, including the estimation of seismic parameters from SAR data and the retrieval of atmospheric and vegetation parameters.
(45 minutes talk + 15 minutes Q&A)

About the Speaker

Fabio Del Frate received the Laurea degree in Electronic Engineering in 1992 and the Ph.D. degree in Computer Science in 1997, both from the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Italy. He has been Visiting Scientist with the Research Laboratory of Electronics of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA; Research Fellow with the ESRIN centre, European Space Agency, Frascati and EUMETSAT Associate Scientist. Since 1999 he is with the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” where he is currently Full Professor and where he teaches courses on Remote Sensing and Applied Electromagnetism in various Master and PhD Programs. In the framework of remote sensing educational international activities he has been lecturer in different European Universities (Prague, Trier, Cracow, Brasov, Limassol, Naples, L’Aquila). He is, or has been, principal investigator/project manager in several European Space Agency (ESA) and Italian Space Agency (ASI) funded research projects, author of more than 200 international scientific publications with a special focus on feature extraction algorithms from EO data using neural networks. He has been session organizer and in technical boards of International Conferences and Workshops focused on Geoscience and Remote Sensing. He has been Associate Editor for the journal “Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters”, Guest Editor for the journals “EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing” and “Remote Sensing”. Currently he is also a Visiting Professor at the ESA ESRIN Phi-Lab. In 2006 Fabio Del Frate as co-founded GEO-K srl, the first spin-off company of the University of “Tor Vergata” of which he is now President.

Recorded Webinar

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