Research

Research directions and featured projects

Our group combines rigorous modeling, optimization, and machine learning to create methods with both theoretical depth and practical impact.

Research Mission

Build elegant theory and powerful algorithms that merge physics, optimization, and AI to solve high-impact imaging and sensing problems.

4+
Research Themes
10+
Major Active Directions
Global
International Collaborations
IEEE / SPIE / OPTICA
Editorial & Scientific Leadership

Core directions

Featured projects

Research with scientific reach and real-world relevance.

01

Computational LiDAR from Airborne to Spaceborne Platforms

Developing computational sensing and generative reconstruction methods for photon-limited, height-resolved Earth observation, with applications to vegetation structure, topography, and geospatial mapping.

02

Generative Compression and Inference for Remote Sensing

Combining sensing, compression, and machine learning to improve quality, speed, and bandwidth efficiency in imaging pipelines.

03

Hypergraph Learning and Signal Processing

Building mathematical and algorithmic foundations for tensor-based hypergraph representations and learning systems.

04

AI for Imaging, Sensing, and Scientific Discovery

Creating robust learning frameworks that fuse domain physics, optimization, and modern AI for hard inverse problems.

Publications

Selected publications and books

Recent papers (2023–2026) organized by the group's four research directions, spanning computational imaging, remote sensing and LiDAR, generative AI for inverse problems, and hypergraph signal processing.

Selected recent papers by research direction
Computational Imaging
2026
Focal Spot Mitigation with Dynamic Sampling Conditions for High-Resolution X-ray CT via Diffusion Priors
C. M. Restrepo-Galeano, G. R. Arce
Optics Express
2025
Degradation-Estimated Hybrid Unfolding Transformer Network for Efficient Hyperspectral Image Reconstruction
Z. Fang, X. Ma, G. R. Arce
Optics & Laser Technology
2025
Illumination Pattern Optimization in Compressive X-ray Compton Backscattering Imaging
A. K. Alrushud, E. Salazar, G. Arce
Optics Express
Remote Sensing & LiDAR
2024
Transformer End-to-End Optimization of Compressive Lidars Using Imaging Spectroscopy Side-Information
N. Porras-Diaz, A. Ramirez-Jaime, G. R. Arce, K. Pena-Pena, D. Harding, et al.
IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing
2024
HyperHeight LiDAR Compressive Sampling and Machine Learning Reconstruction of Forested Landscapes
A. Ramirez-Jaime, K. Pena-Pena, G. R. Arce, D. Harding, M. Stephen, et al.
IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing
2024
Multi-Modal Transformer for Compressive LiDARs Using Hyperspectral Imaging Side-Information
N. Porras-Diaz, A. Ramirez-Jaime, G. R. Arce, R. Vargas, D. Harding, et al.
IGARSS 2024 — IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium
Generative AI for Inverse Problems
2026
Diffusion-Based Joint Recovery, Denoising, and Super-Resolution of Compressed-Sensing Satellite LiDAR Data
A. Ramirez-Jaime, N. Porras-Diaz, M. Stephen, G. Yang, G. R. Arce
IEEE Transactions on Computational Imaging
2025
Toward Submeter Satellite Surface Topography and Vegetation Mapping Using LiDAR/RGB Constrained Generative Diffusion
N. Porras-Diaz, A. Ramirez-Jaime, G. R. Arce, M. Stephen
IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing
2024
Super-Resolution in Low-Dose X-ray CT via Focal Spot Mitigation with Generative Diffusion Networks
C. M. Restrepo-Galeano, G. R. Arce
IEEE Transactions on Computational Imaging
Hypergraph Signal Processing
2026
A Framework for Directed Hypergraph Signal Processing via Tensor t-SVD
C. Mundo-Levano, N. Bello, D. L. Lau, G. R. Arce
arXiv preprint
2025
Scalable Hypergraph Structure Learning with Diverse Smoothness Priors
B. T. Brown, H. Zhang, D. L. Lau, G. R. Arce
IEEE Transactions on Signal and Information Processing over Networks
2024
T-HyperGNNs: Hypergraph Neural Networks via Tensor Representations
F. Wang, K. Pena-Pena, W. Qian, G. R. Arce
IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems
Books
Handbook of Statistics: Multi-Dimensional Signal Processing (Elsevier, 2024)
Computational Lithography (Wiley, 2010)
Modern Digital Halftoning (CRC Press, 2008)
Nonlinear Signal Processing (Wiley, 2004)
Research profile

The broader record includes books, patents, invited talks, editorial leadership, and a large body of journal and conference publications across signal processing, optics, imaging, remote sensing, and machine learning.