Calibrated Uncertainty for Informative Path Planning in Aquatic Environmental Monitoring
Quick summary
arXiv:2609.34577v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Informative Path Planning for scalar field reconstruction uses predictive uncertainty to direct sensing vehicles toward maximally informative locations. Gaussian Processes provide this signal but their stationary isotropic kernels are misspecified for non-homogeneous phenomena such as oil spills, producing miscalibrated estimates that degrade planning. We investigate whether replacing the Gaussian Process with a well-calibrated Deep Ensemble improves path planning outcomes, and whether uncertainty quality interacts with the choice of planning
Key takeaways
- arXiv:2609.34577v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Informative Path Planning for scalar field reconstruction uses predictive uncertainty to direct sensing vehicles toward maximally informative locations.
- Gaussian Processes provide this signal but their stationary isotropic kernels are misspecified for non-homogeneous phenomena such as oil spills, producing miscalibrated estimates that degrade planning.
- We investigate whether replacing the Gaussian Process with a well-calibrated Deep Ensemble improves path planning outcomes, and whether uncertainty quality interacts with the choice of planning
Why it matters
The importance of “Calibrated Uncertainty for Informative Path Planning in Aquatic Environmental Monitoring” will be measured by what changes in practice. User behavior, access conditions, verifiable performance and responsible-use outcomes are the signals worth following.

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