Airborne Radio-Echo Sounding Data Denoising Using Particle Swarm Optimization and Multivariate Variational Mode Decomposition

Radio-echo sounding (RES) is widely used for polar ice sheet detection due to its wide coverage and high efficiency. The multivariate variational mode decomposition (MVMD) algorithm for the processing of RES data is an improvement to the variational mode decomposition (VMD) algorithm. It processes data encompassing multiple channels. Determining the most effective component combination of the penalty parameter (α) and the number of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) (K) is fundamental and affects the decomposition results. α and K in traditional MVMD are provided by subjective experience. We integrated the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to iteratively optimize these parameters—specifically, α and K—with high precision. This was then combined with the four quantitative parameters: energy entropy, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), and root-mean-square error (RMSE). The RES signal decomposition results were judged, and the most effective component combination for noise suppression was selected. We processed the airborne RES data from the East Antarctic ice sheet using the combined PSO–MVMD method. The results confirmed the quality of the proposed method in attenuating the RES signal noise, enhancing the weak signal of the ice base, and improving the SNR. This combined PSO–MVMD method may help to enhance weak signals in deeper parts of ice sheets and may be an effective tool for RES data interpretation.