Enhancing Precision Agriculture and Land Cover Classification: A Self-Attention 3D Convolutional Neural Network Approach for Hyperspectral Image Analysis

Hyperspectral imagery, capturing information beyond the visible spectrum, is essential for many remote sensing applications. This paper introduces a novel approach utilizing a 3D Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) enhanced with self-attention mechanism to address the limitations of traditional architectures in hyperspectral image classification. The main problem tackled is the effective extraction of both spatial and spectral features from complex hyperspectral datasets. Our proposed model simultaneously analyzes spatial and spectral dimensions with improved accuracy and adaptability through self-attention. We systematically evaluate the performance of 1D CNN, 2D CNN, and 3D CNN models, alongside Multi-Column Neural Network (MCNN) and Hybrid Spectral Network (Hybrid SN) models, comparing them to our proposed approach. The evaluation, conducted on the Indian Pines and Salinas datasets, highlights significant improvements in classification accuracy and adaptability. Specifically, the proposed 3D CNN with self-attention achieves accuracy values of 98.45% and 91.32% on the Indian Pines and Salinas datasets, respectively. This paper provides critical insights for data scientists and remote sensing experts, contributing to informed decision-making in selecting CNN models tailored to specific application requirements and advancing the field of hyperspectral image classification (HSIC). Furthermore, our approach shows improved handling of the complex spectral variability and spatial heterogeneity inherent in hyperspectral data.