Synthetic Data Augmentation for Enhancing Harmful Algal Bloom Detection with Machine Learning

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Huang, Tianyi
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Huang, Tianyi
author_facet Huang, Tianyi
contents Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) pose severe threats to aquatic ecosystems and public health, resulting in substantial economic losses globally. Early detection is crucial but often hindered by the scarcity of high-quality datasets necessary for training reliable machine learning (ML) models. This study investigates the use of synthetic data augmentation using Gaussian Copulas to enhance ML-based HAB detection systems. Synthetic datasets of varying sizes (100-1,000 samples) were generated using relevant environmental features$\unicode{x2015}$water temperature, salinity, and UVB radiation$\unicode{x2015}$with corrected Chlorophyll-a concentration as the target variable. Experimental results demonstrate that moderate synthetic augmentation significantly improves model performance (RMSE reduced from 0.4706 to 0.1850; $p < 0.001$). However, excessive synthetic data introduces noise and reduces predictive accuracy, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach to data augmentation. These findings highlight the potential of synthetic data to enhance HAB monitoring systems, offering a scalable and cost-effective method for early detection and mitigation of ecological and public health risks.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_03794
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Synthetic Data Augmentation for Enhancing Harmful Algal Bloom Detection with Machine Learning
Huang, Tianyi
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Computers and Society
Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) pose severe threats to aquatic ecosystems and public health, resulting in substantial economic losses globally. Early detection is crucial but often hindered by the scarcity of high-quality datasets necessary for training reliable machine learning (ML) models. This study investigates the use of synthetic data augmentation using Gaussian Copulas to enhance ML-based HAB detection systems. Synthetic datasets of varying sizes (100-1,000 samples) were generated using relevant environmental features$\unicode{x2015}$water temperature, salinity, and UVB radiation$\unicode{x2015}$with corrected Chlorophyll-a concentration as the target variable. Experimental results demonstrate that moderate synthetic augmentation significantly improves model performance (RMSE reduced from 0.4706 to 0.1850; $p < 0.001$). However, excessive synthetic data introduces noise and reduces predictive accuracy, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach to data augmentation. These findings highlight the potential of synthetic data to enhance HAB monitoring systems, offering a scalable and cost-effective method for early detection and mitigation of ecological and public health risks.
title Synthetic Data Augmentation for Enhancing Harmful Algal Bloom Detection with Machine Learning
topic Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Computers and Society
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.03794