DINOv3

Self-supervised learning holds the promise of eliminating the need for manual data annotation, enabling models to scale effortlessly to massive datasets and larger architectures. By not being tailored to specific tasks or domains, this training paradigm has the potential to learn visual representations from diverse sources, ranging from natural to aerial images -- using a single algorithm. This technical report introduces DINOv3, a major milestone toward realizing this vision by leveraging simple yet effective strategies. First, we leverage the benefit of scaling both dataset and model size by careful data preparation, design, and optimization. Second, we introduce a new method called Gram anchoring, which effectively addresses the known yet unsolved issue of dense feature maps degrading during long training schedules. Finally, we apply post-hoc strategies that further enhance our models' flexibility with respect to resolution, model size, and alignment with text. As a result, we present a versatile vision foundation model that outperforms the specialized state of the art across a broad range of settings, without fine-tuning. DINOv3 produces high-quality dense features that achieve outstanding performance on various vision tasks, significantly surpassing previous self- and weakly-supervised foundation models. We also share the DINOv3 suite of vision models, designed to advance the state of the art on a wide spectrum of tasks and data by providing scalable solutions for diverse resource constraints and deployment scenarios.

Sub-meter resolution canopy height maps using self-supervised learning and a vision transformer trained on Aerial and GEDI Lidar

Vegetation structure mapping is critical for understanding the global carbon cycle and monitoring nature-based approaches to climate adaptation and mitigation. Repeat measurements of these data allow for the observation of deforestation or degradation of existing forests, natural forest regeneration, and the implementation of sustainable agricultural practices like agroforestry. Assessments of tree canopy height and crown projected area at a high spatial resolution are also important for monitoring carbon fluxes and assessing tree-based land uses, since forest structures can be highly spatially heterogeneous, especially in agroforestry systems. Very high resolution satellite imagery (less than one meter (1m) ground sample distance) makes it possible to extract information at the tree level while allowing monitoring at a very large scale. This paper presents the first high-resolution canopy height map concurrently produced for multiple sub-national jurisdictions. Specifically, we produce canopy height maps for the states of California and S\~{a}o Paolo, at sub-meter resolution, a significant improvement over the ten meter (10m) resolution of previous Sentinel / GEDI based worldwide maps of canopy height. The maps are generated by applying a vision transformer to features extracted from a self-supervised model in Maxar imagery from 2017 to 2020, and are trained against aerial lidar and GEDI observations. We evaluate the proposed maps with set-aside validation lidar data as well as by comparing with other remotely sensed maps and field-collected data, and find our model produces an average Mean Absolute Error (MAE) within set-aside validation areas of 3.0 meters.