GeoAI · Explainable AI · Remote Sensing

Xuran Hu

PhD Candidate at KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Hi! I am a first-year PhD student in the Division of Geoinformatics at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, supervised by Prof. Yifang Ban and Prof. Andrea Nascetti. My research focuses on explainable artificial intelligence and its applications in remote sensing, especially interpretable deep learning and image understanding.

I am also a research assistant at the HKUST(GZ) AI4City Lab with Prof. Wufan Zhao. I received my master's and bachelor's degrees from Xidian University, where my master's research was supervised by Prof. Mingzhe Zhu. From May 2024 to February 2025, I visited the Time-Frequency Signal Analysis group at the University of Montenegro under the supervision of Prof. Ljubiša Stanković.

Portrait of Xuran Hu

Stockholm, Sweden

Updates

News

  1. γ-Bridge paper & code available.
  2. GeoHeight-Bench paper & project page available.
  3. Started my PhD journey at KTH.
  4. One paper accepted by IEEE Signal Processing Letters.
  5. Joined the HKUST(GZ) AI4City Lab as a research assistant.
  6. One paper accepted by Knowledge-Based Systems.
  7. Received my master's degree from Xidian University.
  8. Presented at TELFOR 2024 in Belgrade.
  9. One paper accepted by IEEE JSTARS.
  10. One paper accepted by Neural Networks.
  11. One paper accepted by Neurocomputing.
  12. Joined the University of Montenegro TFSA group as a visiting researcher.
  13. Two papers accepted at IGARSS 2024.

Selected work

Publications

All on Google Scholar ↗
Overview of the gamma-Bridge diffusion process

Preprint · 2026 New

γ-Bridge: A Look-Parametric Diffusion Bridge

Xuran Hu, Yujie Zhu, Tengxi Wang, Jilong Li, Wufan Zhao

A physically interpretable diffusion bridge for controllable Gamma-noise restoration and zero-shot SAR despeckling.

GeoHeight-Bench project preview

Preprint · 2026 New

GeoHeight-Bench: Towards Height-Aware Multimodal Reasoning in Remote Sensing

Xuran Hu, Zhitong Xiong*, Zhongcheng Hong, Yifang Ban, Xiaoxiang Zhu, Wufan Zhao*

A benchmark for evaluating height-aware multimodal reasoning across elevation-informed remote sensing tasks.

UAV small object detection project preview

IEEE Signal Processing Letters · 2025

Lightweight Attention-Enhanced Multi-scale Detector for Robust Small Object Detection in UAV

Haitao Yang, Yingzhuo Xiong, Dongliang Zhang, Xiai Yan*, Xuran Hu*

A lightweight attention-enhanced detector for robust small-object localization in UAV imagery.

Biomass dynamics study preview

Preprint

Causal Attribution of Above-ground Biomass Dynamics in Sweden via SHAP

Xuran Hu

A SHAP-based attribution study of the environmental drivers behind above-ground biomass dynamics across Sweden.

In preparation for Remote Sensing of Environment

SAR despeckling method preview

Preprint · 2024

SAR Despeckling via Log-Yeo-Johnson Transformation and Sparse Representation

Xuran Hu, Mingzhe Zhu*, Djordje Stankovic, Zhenpeng Feng, Ljubiša Stanković

A transformation-and-sparse-representation framework for suppressing multiplicative speckle while preserving SAR structure.

GAN-based unsupervised manipulation preview

Knowledge-Based Systems · 2025

Interpretable Multi-task SAR Image Processing via GAN-based Unsupervised Manipulation

Xuran Hu, Mingzhe Zhu*, Ziqiang Xu, Zhenpeng Feng, Ljubiša Stanković

An unsupervised GAN framework that learns interpretable manipulations for multiple SAR image-processing tasks.

Perturbation on Feature Coalition preview

TELFOR · 2024

Perturbation on Feature Coalition: Towards Interpretable Deep Neural Networks

Xuran Hu, Mingzhe Zhu*, Zhenpeng Feng, Miloš Daković, Ljubiša Stanković

A structured perturbation method that explains neural predictions through meaningful feature coalitions.

Transformer localization method preview

IEEE JSTARS · 2024

Re-perceive Global Vision of Transformer for RSI Weakly Supervised Object Localization

Xuran Hu, Mingzhe Zhu*, Zhenpeng Feng, Ljubiša Stanković

A Transformer-based approach that reuses global context to improve weakly supervised localization in remote sensing images.

Latent SHAP method preview

Neural Networks · 2024

Manifold-based Shapley Explanations for High Dimensional Correlated Features

Xuran Hu, Mingzhe Zhu*, Zhenpeng Feng, Ljubiša Stanković

A manifold-aware Shapley method for explaining models with high-dimensional, strongly correlated features.

Adaptive perturbation interpretation preview

Neurocomputing · 2024

Unveiling SAR Target Recognition Networks: Adaptive Perturbation Interpretation

Mingzhe Zhu, Xuran Hu*, Zhenpeng Feng, Ljubiša Stanković

An adaptive perturbation framework for revealing how SAR target-recognition networks form their decisions.

Manifold-based Shapley explanation preview

IGARSS · 2024

Manifold-based Shapley for SAR Recognition Network Explanation

Xuran Hu, Mingzhe Zhu*, Yuanjing Liu, Zhenpeng Feng, Ljubiša Stanković

A manifold-based Shapley formulation for more faithful explanations of SAR recognition networks.

Regional denoising diffusion preview

IGARSS · 2024

SAR Despeckling via Regional Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Model

Xuran Hu, Ziqiang Xu, Zhihan Chen, Mingzhe Zhu*, Zhenpeng Feng, Ljubiša Stanković

A regional denoising diffusion model designed to restore SAR imagery corrupted by speckle noise.

Recognition

Awards

2024

China National Scholarship

National recognition

2024

Huiding Scholarship

Special Prize · Social Scholarship

2022

Xidian University Academic Scholarship

Special Prize