A cost-effective semisupervised classifier approach with kernels

In this paper, we propose a cost-effective iterative semisupervised classifier based on a kernel concept. The proposed technique incorporates unlabeled data into the design of a binary classifier by introducing and optimizing a cost function in a feature space that maximizes the Rayleigh coefficient while minimizing the total cost associated with misclassified labeled samples. The cost assigned to misclassified, labeled samples accounts for the number of misclassified labeled samples as well as the amount by which they are on the wrong side of the boundary, and this counterbalances any potential adverse effect of unlabeled data on the classifier performance. Several experiments performed with remotely sensed data demonstrate that using the proposed semisupervised classifier shows considerable improvements over the supervised-only counterpart.