用多层次模型平衡气候预测的精度与可解释性,发现简单模型也能媲美深度网络。
Tackling the Accuracy-Interpretability Trade-off in a Hierarchy of Machine Learning Models for the Prediction of Extreme Heatwaves
- 构建从高斯近似到卷积神经网络的多层级模型体系
- 散射网络(ScatNet)性能接近CNN,但能揭示关键气候模式
- 适合关注模型可信度与物理机制的气候研究者
在机器学习预测中,性能与可解释性常存在权衡:复杂模型精度更高但难以解释,尤其在极端天气预测中更需物理可解释性。本文针对法国极端高温事件,构建从全局高斯近似(GA)到深度卷积神经网络(CNN)的多层级模型,中间包含内在可解释神经网络(IINN)和散射变换模型(ScatNet)。结果表明,尽管CNN精度最高,其黑箱特性仍限制可解释性,即使使用最先进的可解释人工智能(XAI)工具亦然。而ScatNet在性能上接近CNN,同时能清晰识别驱动预测的关键空间尺度与模式,显著提升透明度。本研究证明,简化模型可在保持高性能的同时大幅增强可解释性,有助于建立模型信任并挖掘新科学洞见,推动极端天气事件的理解与应对。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
When performing predictions that use Machine Learning (ML), we are mainly interested in performance and interpretability. This generates a natural trade-off, where complex models generally have higher skills but are harder to explain and thus trust. Interpretability is particularly important in the climate community, where we aim at gaining a physical understanding of the underlying phenomena. Even more so when the prediction concerns extreme weather events with high impact on society. In this paper, we perform probabilistic forecasts of extreme heatwaves over France, using a hierarchy of increasingly complex ML models, which allows us to find the best compromise between accuracy and interpretability. More precisely, we use models that range from a global Gaussian Approximation (GA) to deep Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), with the intermediate steps of a simple Intrinsically Interpretable Neural Network (IINN) and a model using the Scattering Transform (ScatNet). Our findings reveal that CNNs provide higher accuracy, but their black-box nature severely limits interpretability, even when using state-of-the-art Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) tools. In contrast, ScatNet achieves similar performance to CNNs while providing greater transparency, identifying key scales and patterns in the data that drive predictions. This study underscores the potential of interpretability in ML models for climate science, demonstrating that simpler models can rival the performance of their more complex counterparts, all the while being much easier to understand. This gained interpretability is crucial for building trust in model predictions and uncovering new scientific insights, ultimately advancing our understanding and management of extreme weather events.
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