GRAD-Former: Gated Robust Attention-based Differential Transformer for Change Detection

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Ameta, Durgesh, Mishra, Ujjwal, Hambarde, Praful, Shukla, Amit
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Ameta, Durgesh
Mishra, Ujjwal
Hambarde, Praful
Shukla, Amit
author_facet Ameta, Durgesh
Mishra, Ujjwal
Hambarde, Praful
Shukla, Amit
contents Change detection (CD) in remote sensing aims to identify semantic differences between satellite images captured at different times. While deep learning has significantly advanced this field, existing approaches based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs), transformers and Selective State Space Models (SSMs) still struggle to precisely delineate change regions. In particular, traditional transformer-based methods suffer from quadratic computational complexity when applied to very high-resolution (VHR) satellite images and often perform poorly with limited training data, leading to under-utilization of the rich spatial information available in VHR imagery. We present GRAD-Former, a novel framework that enhances contextual understanding while maintaining efficiency through reduced model size. The proposed framework consists of a novel encoder with Adaptive Feature Relevance and Refinement (AFRAR) module, fusion and decoder blocks. AFRAR integrates global-local contextual awareness through two proposed components: the Selective Embedding Amplification (SEA) module and the Global-Local Feature Refinement (GLFR) module. SEA and GLFR leverage gating mechanisms and differential attention, respectively, which generates multiple softmax heaps to capture important features while minimizing the captured irreverent features. Multiple experiments across three challenging CD datasets (LEVIR-CD, CDD, DSIFN-CD) demonstrate GRAD-Former's superior performance compared to existing approaches. Notably, GRAD-Former outperforms the current state-of-the-art models across all the metrics and all the datasets while using fewer parameters. Our framework establishes a new benchmark for remote sensing change detection performance. Our code will be released at: https://github.com/Ujjwal238/GRAD-Former
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_01161
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle GRAD-Former: Gated Robust Attention-based Differential Transformer for Change Detection
Ameta, Durgesh
Mishra, Ujjwal
Hambarde, Praful
Shukla, Amit
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Artificial Intelligence
Change detection (CD) in remote sensing aims to identify semantic differences between satellite images captured at different times. While deep learning has significantly advanced this field, existing approaches based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs), transformers and Selective State Space Models (SSMs) still struggle to precisely delineate change regions. In particular, traditional transformer-based methods suffer from quadratic computational complexity when applied to very high-resolution (VHR) satellite images and often perform poorly with limited training data, leading to under-utilization of the rich spatial information available in VHR imagery. We present GRAD-Former, a novel framework that enhances contextual understanding while maintaining efficiency through reduced model size. The proposed framework consists of a novel encoder with Adaptive Feature Relevance and Refinement (AFRAR) module, fusion and decoder blocks. AFRAR integrates global-local contextual awareness through two proposed components: the Selective Embedding Amplification (SEA) module and the Global-Local Feature Refinement (GLFR) module. SEA and GLFR leverage gating mechanisms and differential attention, respectively, which generates multiple softmax heaps to capture important features while minimizing the captured irreverent features. Multiple experiments across three challenging CD datasets (LEVIR-CD, CDD, DSIFN-CD) demonstrate GRAD-Former's superior performance compared to existing approaches. Notably, GRAD-Former outperforms the current state-of-the-art models across all the metrics and all the datasets while using fewer parameters. Our framework establishes a new benchmark for remote sensing change detection performance. Our code will be released at: https://github.com/Ujjwal238/GRAD-Former
title GRAD-Former: Gated Robust Attention-based Differential Transformer for Change Detection
topic Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.01161