Data-efficient semi-supervised learning for flow estimation using unlabelled probe data

Abstract

Estimating time-resolved velocity and pressure fields from Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) remains challenging due to its limited temporal resolution in many applications. Data-driven approaches that combine snapshot PIV with high-frequency probe data have shown great promise in reconstructing the flow dynamics for advection-dominated flows; however, they typically exploit only the probe measurements directly synchronized with the PIV frames, leaving a large volume of probe-only data acquired between snapshots unused. In this work, we propose a framework that enriches the original PIV training dataset by time-marching a simple advection model and then exploits unlabelled probe data through a semi-supervised learning strategy. Two neural networks are trained to predict the temporal coefficients of Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) modes of the flow fields, and their temporal derivatives, respectively. Unlabelled probe samples are leveraged to enforce temporal consistency and expand the coverage of flow scenarios beyond those captured by snapshot PIV, which is crucial for obtaining physically consistent temporal gradients required for pressure field reconstruction. A least-squares regularization step is further employed to reconcile the predictions and enforce consistency between temporal coefficients and their derivatives. The proposed approach is validated on both synthetic turbulent channel flow data and experimental PIV measurements of an airfoil wake. Results demonstrate that incorporating unlabelled probe data significantly improves the accuracy and temporal smoothness of velocity reconstruction, leading to more reliable pressure estimation via the Navier-Stokes equations, without increasing the experimental cost.