AI Agent for Source Finding by SoFiA-2 for SKA-SDC2 postprint

Abstract: Source extraction is crucial in analyzing data from next-generation, large-scale sky surveys in radio bands, such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Several source extraction programs, including Source Finding Application (SoFiA) and Aegean, have been developed to address this challenge. However, finding optimal parameter configurations when applying these programs to real observations is non-trivial. For example, the outcomes of SoFiA intensely depend on several key parameters across its preconditioning, source-finding, and reliability-filtering modules. To address this issue, we propose a framework to automatically optimize these parameters using an artificial intelligence (AI) agent based on a state-of-the-art reinforcement learning algorithm, i.e., Soft Actor-Critic. The SKA Science Data Challenge 2 (SDC2) dataset is utilized to assess the feasibility and reliability of this framework. The AI agent interacts with the environment by adjusting parameters based on the feedback from the SDC2 score defined by the SDC2 Team, progressively learning to select parameter sets that yield improved performance. After sufficient training, the AI agent can automatically identify an optimal parameter configuration that outperforms the benchmark set by Team SoFiA within only 100 evaluation steps and with reduced time consumption. Our approach could address similar problems requiring complex parameter tuning, beyond radio band surveys and source extraction. Yet, high-quality training sets containing representative observations and catalogs of ground truth are essential.