Optimization of Image Acquisition for Earth Observation Satellites via Quantum Computing

Antón Makarov, Márcio M. Taddei, Eneko Osaba, Giacomo Franceschetto, Esther Villar-Rodríguez, Izaskun Oregi

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Satellite image acquisition scheduling is a problem that is omnipresent in the earth observation field; its goal is to find the optimal subset of images to be taken during a given orbit pass under a set of constraints. This problem, which can be modeled via combinatorial optimization, has been dealt with many times by the artificial intelligence and operations research communities. However, despite its inherent interest, it has been scarcely studied through the quantum computing paradigm. Taking this situation as motivation, we present in this paper two QUBO formulations for the problem, using different approaches to handle the non-trivial constraints. We compare the formulations experimentally over 20 problem instances using three quantum annealers currently available from D-Wave, as well as one of its hybrid solvers. Fourteen of the tested instances have been obtained from the well-known SPOT5 benchmark, while the remaining six have been generated ad-hoc for this study. Our results show that the formulation and the ancilla handling technique is crucial to solve the problem successfully. Finally, we also provide practical guidelines on the size limits of problem instances that can be realistically solved on current quantum computers.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationIntelligent Data Engineering and Automated Learning – IDEAL 2023 - 24th International Conference, Proceedings
EditorsPaulo Quaresma, Teresa Gonçalves, David Camacho, Hujun Yin, Vicente Julian, Antonio J. Tallón-Ballesteros
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages3-14
Number of pages12
ISBN (Print)9783031482311
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023
Event24th International Conference on Intelligent Data Engineering and Automated Learning, IDEAL 2023 - Évora, Portugal
Duration: 22 Nov 202324 Nov 2023

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume14404 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference24th International Conference on Intelligent Data Engineering and Automated Learning, IDEAL 2023
Country/TerritoryPortugal
CityÉvora
Period22/11/2324/11/23

Keywords

  • D-Wave
  • Earth Observation
  • Quantum Annealer
  • Quantum Computing
  • Satellite Image Acquisition

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