On the use of collaborative sparse regression in hyperspectral unmixing chains
Hyperspectral unmixing is a complex process in which several steps are consecutively executed to derive the desired results: the image endmembers and their corresponding fractional abundance maps. Each of these unmixing stages benefits nowadays from a plethora of algorithms, continuously developed and improved. In this paper, we analyze three of the general unmixing steps: band selection (data dimensionality reduction), endmember extraction and fractional abundance inference (inversion) from a multi-measurement vector problem point of view. We show that these particular steps can be expressed as a convex optimization problem in which the concept of data collaborativity is exploited and one single algorithm can be efficiently used to solve them. Our experimental results obtained in an urban dataset acquired over Berlin, Germany, show the potential of this approach in remote sensing applications.