HyperKAN: Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks Make Hyperspectral Image Classifiers Smarter

In traditional neural network designs, a multilayer perceptron (MLP) is typically employed as a classification block following the feature extraction stage. However, the Kolmogorov-Arnold Network (KAN) presents a promising alternative to MLP, offering the potential to enhance prediction accuracy. In this paper, we studied KAN-based networks for pixel-wise classification of hyperspectral images. Initially, we compared baseline MLP and KAN networks with varying numbers of neurons in their hidden layers. Subsequently, we replaced the linear, convolutional, and attention layers of traditional neural networks with their KAN-based counterparts. Specifically, six cutting-edge neural networks were modified, including 1D (1DCNN), 2D (2DCNN), and 3D convolutional networks (two different 3DCNNs, NM3DCNN), as well as transformer (SSFTT). Experiments conducted using seven publicly available hyperspectral datasets demonstrated a substantial improvement in classification accuracy across all the networks. The best classification quality was achieved using a KAN-based transformer architecture.