A multi-band approach to unsupervised scale parameter selection for multi-scale image segmentation

Image segmentation is one of key steps in object based image analysis of very high resolution images. Selecting the appropriate scale parameter becomes a particularly important task in image segmentation. In this study, an unsupervised multi-band approach is proposed for scale parameter selection in the multi-scale image segmentation process, which uses spectral angle to measure the spectral homogeneity of segments. With the increasing scale parameter, spectral homogeneity of segments decreases until they match the objects in the real world. The index of spectral homogeneity is thus used to determine multiple appropriate scale parameters. The performance of the proposed method is compared to a single-band based method through qualitative visual interpretation and quantitative discrepancy measures. Both methods are applied for segmenting two images: a QuickBird scene of an urban area within Beijing, China and a Woldview-2 scene of a suburban area in Kashiwa, Japan. The proposed multi-band based segmentation scale parameter selection method outperforms the single-band based method with the better recognition for diverse land cover objects in different urban landscapes.     

A Tool Assessing Optimal Multi-Scale Image Segmentation

Image segmentation to create representative objects by region growing image segmentation techniques such as multi resolution segmentation (MRS) is mostly done through interactive selection of scale parameters and is still a subject of great research interest in object-based image analysis. In this study, we developed an optimum scale parameter selector (OSPS) tool for objective determination of multiple optimal scales in an image by MRS using eCognition software. The ready to use OSPS tool consists of three modules and determines optimum scales in an image by combining intrasegment variance and intersegment spatial autocorrelation. The tool was tested using WorldView-2 and Resourcesat-2 LISS-IV Mx images having different spectral and spatial resolutions in two areas to find optimal objects for ground features such as water bodies, trees, buildings, road, agricultural fields and landslides. Quality of the objects created for these features using scale parameters obtained from the OSPS tool was evaluated quantitatively using segmentation goodness metrics. Results show that OSPS tool is able determine optimum scale parameters for creation of representative objects from high resolution satellite images by MRS method.     

面向对象影像多尺度分割最大异质性参数估计

多尺度分割是遥感影像分析的关键步骤,影像分割过程中的尺度参数选择直接关系到面向对象影像分析的质量和精度。首先,总结了面向对象影像分析中尺度概念的内涵,分析遥感影像空间和属性两大基本特征,依据空间统计和光谱统计获得理论上最优的空间尺度分割参数、属性尺度分割参数。其次,运用了基于谱空间统计的高分辨率影像分割尺度估计方法,分析了分形网络演化多尺度分割与影像谱空间统计特征的关系,进而将基于谱空间统计的面向对象影像分析尺度参数应用于分形网络演化多尺度分割算法中,最后,对其参数的合理性进行验证。研究采用高空间分辨率IKONOS和SPOT 5影像数据,选择建筑实验区和农田实验区进行空间和光谱特征统计,以进一步估计分割中的最佳尺度参数。使用分形网络演化方法对图像进行分割,利用监督分类对本文提出的尺度估计方法进行验证,验证结果表明尺度估计方法可以一定程度上保证后续的面向对象影像分类的精度。不同于以往分割后评价的尺度选择方法会需要大量的运算量,本文方法不需要先验知识的参与,且在分割前就可以自适应地估计出相对较为合适的尺度参数,提高了面向对象信息提取的自动化程度。     

面向对象的遥感影像模糊分类方法研究

传统的基于像素的遥感影像处理方法都是基于遥感影像光谱信息极其丰富,地物间光谱差异较为明显的基础上进行的。对于只含有较少波段的高分辨率遥感影像,传统的分类方法,就会造成分类精度降低,空间数据的大量冗余,并且其分类结果常常是椒盐图像,不利于进行空间分析。本文采用面向对象的影像分类方法,考虑了对象的不同特征值,例如光谱值,形状和纹理,结合上下文关系和语义的信息,这种分类技术不仅能够使用影像属性,而且能够利用不同影像对象之间的空间关系。在对诸多对象进行分类后,再进行精度分析。在此研究提出了一种面向对象的方法结合模糊理论把许多的对象块分成不同的类别。这一过程主要有两个步骤：第一个步骤是分割。图像分割将整个图像分割成若干个对象,在这个过程中,分割尺度的选择会影响到后续的分类结果和精度。第二个步骤是分类。在这个步骤中,特征值的选择和隶属度函数的选择都对分类结果有着至关重要的影响。     

一种改进的基于最小生成树的遥感影像多尺度分割方法

影像分割是遥感影像面向对象信息提取的基础步骤。基于多特征、多尺度及考虑空间关系的遥感图像分割是主流研究方向。本文基于eCognition软件的多尺度分割思想,引入基于图论的最优化理论,提出了基于最小生成树分割和最小异质性准则的多尺度分割方法。该方法采用相干增强各向异性扩散滤波和最小生成树分割得到初始分割结果,通过最小异质性合并准则同时考虑多波段光谱特性区域形状参数进行区域合并,实现多尺度的影像分割。本次研究选取两景试验影像,对本文方法和eCognition软件的多尺度分割方法开展了目视比较和定量指标评价,结果表明,本文提出的方法是一种有效的影像分割方法,在光谱差异较小区域的细分方面优于eCognition方法。     

Efficient paddy field mapping using Landsat-8 imagery and object-based image analysis based on advanced fractel net evolution approach

This paper proposes an efficient paddy field mapping method using object-based image analysis and a bitemporal data set acquired by Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager. In the proposed approach, image segmentation is the first step and its quality has a serious impact on the accuracy of paddy field classification. In order to improve segmentation quality, a new segmentation algorithm based on a frequently used method, fractal net evolution approach, is developed, with improvement mainly in merging criteria. In order to automate the process of scale parameter determination, an unsupervised scale selection method is utilized to determine the optimal scale parameter for the proposed image segmentation approach. After segmentation, four types of object-based features including geometric, spectral, textural, and contextual information are extracted and input into the subsequent classification procedure. By using a random forest classifier, paddy fields and nonpaddy fields are separated. The proposed image segmentation method and the final classification result are both quantitatively evaluated. Our segmentation method outperformed two popular algorithms according to three supervised evaluation criteria. The classification result with overall accuracy of 91.00% and kappa statistic of 0.82 validated the effectiveness of the proposed framework. Further analysis on feature importance indicated that spectral features made the most contribution as compared to the other three types of object-based features.     

Evaluation of data fusion and image segmentation in earth observation based rapid mapping workflows

This paper is an exploratory study, which aimed to discover the synergies of data fusion and image segmentation in the context of EO-based rapid mapping workflows. Our approach pillared on the geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) focusing on multiscale, internally-displaced persons’ (IDP) camp information extraction from very high spatial resolution (VHSR) images. We applied twelve pansharpening algorithms to two subsets of a GeoEye-1 image scene that was taken over a former war-induced ephemeral settlement in Sri Lanka. A multidimensional assessment was employed to benchmark pansharpening algorithms with respect to their spectral and spatial fidelity. The multiresolution segmentation (MRS) algorithm of the eCognition Developer software served as the key algorithm in the segmentation process. The first study site was used for comparing segmentation results produced from the twelve fused products at a series of scale, shape, and compactness settings of the MRS algorithm. The segmentation quality and optimum parameter settings of the MRS algorithm were estimated by using empirical discrepancy measures. Non-parametric statistical tests were used to compare the quality of image object candidates, which were derived from the twelve pansharpened products. A wall-to-wall classification was performed based on a support vector machine (SVM) classifier to classify image objects candidates of the fused images. The second site simulated a more realistic crisis information extraction scenario where the domain expertise is crucial in segmentation and classification. We compared segmentation and classification results of the original images (non-fused) and twelve fused images to understand the efficacy of data fusion. We have shown that the GEOBIA has the ability to create meaningful image objects during the segmentation process by compensating the fused image’s spectral distortions with the high-frequency information content that has been injected during fusion. Our findings further questioned the necessity of the data fusion step in rapid mapping context. Bypassing time-intensive data fusion helps to actuate EO-based rapid mapping workflows. We, however, emphasize the fact that data fusion is not limited to VHSR image data but expands over many different combinations of multi-date, multi-sensor EO-data. Thus, further research is needed to understand the synergies of data fusion and image segmentation with respect to multi-date, multi-sensor fusion scenarios and extrapolate our findings to other remote sensing application domains beyond EO-based crisis information retrieval.     

Optimizing multi-resolution segmentation scale using empirical methods: Exploring the sensitivity of the supervised discrepancy measure Euclidean distance 2 (ED2)

Multiresolution segmentation (MRS) has proven to be one of the most successful image segmentation algorithms in the geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) framework. This algorithm is relatively complex and user-dependent; scale, shape, and compactness are the main parameters available to users for controlling the algorithm. Plurality of segmentation results is common because each parameter may take a range of values within its parameter space or different combinations of values among parameters. Finding optimal parameter values through a trial-and-error process is commonly practiced at the expense of time and labor, thus, several alternative supervised and unsupervised methods for supervised automatic parameter setting have been proposed and tested. In the case of supervised empirical assessments, discrepancy measures are employed for computing measures of dissimilarity between a reference polygon and an image object candidate. Evidently the reliability of the optimal-parameter prediction heavily relies on the sensitivity of the segmentation quality metric. The idea behind pursuing optimal parameter setting is that, for instance, a given scale setting provides image object candidates different from the other scale setting; thus, by design the supervised quality metric should capture this difference. In this exploratory study, we selected the Euclidean distance 2 (ED2) metric, a recently proposed supervised metric, whose main design goal is to optimize the geometrical discrepancy (potential segmentation error (PSE)) and arithmetic discrepancy between image objects and reference polygons (number-of segmentation ratio (NSR)) in two dimensional Euclidean space, as a candidate to investigate the validity and efficacy of empirical discrepancy measures for finding the optimal scale parameter setting of the MRS algorithm. We chose test image scenes from four different space-borne sensors with varying spatial resolutions and scene contents and systematically segmented them using the MRS algorithm at a series of parameter settings. The discriminative capacity of the ED2 metric across different scales groups was tested using non-parametric statistical methods. Our results showed that the ED2 metric significantly discriminates the quality of image object candidates at smaller scale values but it loses the sensitivity at larger scale values. This questions the meaningfulness of the ED2 metric in the MRS algorithm’s parameter optimization. Our contention is that the ED2 metric provides some notion of the optimal scale parameter at the expense of time. In this respect, especially in operational-level image processing, it is worth to re-think the trade-off between execution time of the processor-intensive MRS algorithm at series of parameter settings targeting a less-sensitive quality metric and an expert-lead trial-and-error approach.     

k均值聚类引导的遥感影像多尺度分割优化方法

针对不同尺度地物的分割需求,提出了一种k均值聚类引导的多尺度分割优化方法。首先对原始影像进行小尺度分割和k均值聚类,然后利用k均值聚类结果引导对象合并,在合并过程中利用Otsu阈值方法自动选择k均值聚类的影响因子,最终得到适应不同尺度地物的分割结果。以FNEA多尺度分割方法为例,利用模拟数据和真实的GeoEye-1影像数据进行相关试验,目视和定量评价表明本文方法能够得到适宜不同尺度地物的高质量分割结果。     

面向对象的多特征分级CVA遥感影像变化检测

变化矢量分析CVA方法在中低分辨率遥感影像变化检测中已得到广泛应用,但由于高分辨率遥感影像存在不同地物尺度差异大、不同类别地物光谱相互重叠的问题,因此对于高分影像的变化检测具有局限性。为提高高分影像变化检测精度,提出了一种面向对象的多特征分级CVA变化检测方法,首先,利用基于区域邻接图的影像分割方法分别对两时相遥感影像进行多尺度分割,提取分割图斑的光谱、纹理和形状特征;然后,在各级尺度下,分别运用随机森林方法进行特征选择,计算CVA变化强度图;最后,根据信息熵对多级变化强度图进行自适应融合,利用Otsu阈值法检测变化区域,并与仅考虑光谱特征的分级CVA变化检测方法、像元级多特征CVA变化检测方法以及仅考虑光谱特征的像元级CVA变化检测方法进行比较分析。实验表明:与比较方法相比,本文方法的变化检测精度较高,误检率和漏检率较低。     

Rule-based classification of high-resolution imagery over urban areas in New York City

This paper describes the integration of results from different feature extraction algorithms using spectral and spatial attributes to detect specific urban features. Methodology includes segmentation of IKONOS data, computing attributes for creating image objects and classifying the objects with fuzzy logic and rule-based algorithms. Previous research reported low class accuracies for two specific classes – dark and grey roofs. A modified per-field approach was employed to extract urban features. New rule-sets were used on image objects having similar or near-similar spectral and spatial characteristics. Different algorithms using spectral and spatial attributes were developed to extract specific urban features from a time-series of Multi-Spectral Scanner (MSS) (4 m × 4 m) IKONOS data. The modified approach resulted in a remarkable improvement in the accuracy of classes that registered low spectral seperability and therefore low accuracy. The spectral and spatial based classification model may be useful in mapping heterogeneous and spectrally similar urban features.     

融合像素—多尺度区域特征的高分辨率遥感影像分类算法

针对基于像素多特征的高分辨率遥感影像分类算法的"胡椒盐"现象和面向对象影像分析方法的"平滑地物细节"现象,提出了一种融合像素特征和多尺度区域特征的高分辨率遥感影像分类算法。(1)首先采用均值漂移算法对原始影像进行初始过分割,然后对初始过分割结果进行多尺度的区域合并,形成多尺度分割结果。根据多尺度区域合并RMI指数变化和分割尺度对分类精度的影响,确定最优分割尺度。(2)融合光谱特征、像元形状指数PSI(Pixel Shape Index)、初始尺度和最优尺度区域特征,并对多类型特征进行归一化,最后结合支持向量机(SVM)进行分类。实验结果表明该算法既能有效减少基于像素多特征的高分辨率遥感影像分类算法的"胡椒盐"现象,又能保持地物对象的完整性和地物细节信息,提高易混淆类别(如阴影和街道,裸地和草地)的分类精度。     

The comparison index: A tool for assessing the accuracy of image segmentation

Segmentation algorithms applied to remote sensing data provide valuable information about the size, distribution and context of landscape objects at a range of scales. However, there is a need for well-defined and robust validation tools to assessing the reliability of segmentation results. Such tools are required to assess whether image segments are based on ‘real’ objects, such as field boundaries, or on artefacts of the image segmentation algorithm. These tools can be used to improve the reliability of any land-use/land-cover classifications or landscape analyses that is based on the image segments.The validation algorithm developed in this paper aims to: (a) localize and quantify segmentation inaccuracies; and (b) allow the assessment of segmentation results on the whole. The first aim is achieved using object metrics that enable the quantification of topological and geometric object differences. The second aim is achieved by combining these object metrics into a ‘Comparison Index’, which allows a relative comparison of different segmentation results. The approach demonstrates how the Comparison Index CI can be used to guide trial-and-error techniques, enabling the identification of a segmentation scale H that is close to optimal. Once this scale has been identified a more detailed examination of the CI–H- diagrams can be used to identify precisely what H value and associated parameter settings will yield the most accurate image segmentation results.The procedure is applied to segmented Landsat scenes in an agricultural area in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The segmentations were generated using the ‘Fractal Net Evolution Approach’, which is implemented in the eCognition software.     

利用小波变换的高分辨率多光谱遥感图像多尺度分水岭分割

为了减少仅用分水岭变换而导致的过分割问题,本文提出利用小波变换的多尺度处理方式用于融合后多光谱QuickBird图像的分割。整个分割过程包括多尺度图像表示、图像分割、区域合并和结果映射等过程。首先,依据原始图像的大小确定分解尺度并用小波变换产生各波段的低尺度图像。采用相位一致模型提取各近似系数的梯度,并逐尺度地融合各梯度图。分析不同尺度下的不同地物的局部梯度方差,以选择最佳的小波分解尺度。然后,通过移动阈值与扩展最小变换,利用多层次标记提取方法标记均质区域。进而,在梯度重建的基础上利用标记分水岭变换得到分割图像。其次,采取空间相邻关系、面积、光谱与纹理等多约束策略,以搜索最小合并代价的方式合并最初分割区域中的邻接区域对。最后,修改细节子图并进行小波逆变换将最初分割结果投影到更高尺度图像,同时处理边界上的像元以保持区域边界直至原始图像。实验结果表明本文方法不仅能够用于高分辨率多光谱遥感图像的分割,而且缓解了过分割问题且取得了较准确的分割效果。     

城市道路的多特征多核SVM提取方法

针对高分辨率遥感影像中城市道路提取的复杂性及SVM的分类性能,提出了一种城市道路的多特征多核SVM提取方法。首先利用FCM算法将原始影像粗分为建成区和非建成区两类,剔除非建成区;然后根据分水岭分割算法分割建成区并提取分割对象的光谱特征与空间特征,以全局核函数和局部核函数加权组合的方式构建多核SVM对建成区进行二次分类,去除建成区中的建筑物等非道路信息;最后利用数学形态学处理,获得最终的道路提取结果。试验结果表明：文中所提方法能够较精确地提取城市道路信息,分类精度高于单核SVM提取及其他对比方法。     

Object-based land-cover classification for metropolitan Phoenix,Arizona, using aerial photography

Detailed land-cover mapping is essential for a range of research issues addressed by the sustainability and land system sciences and planning. This study uses an object-based approach to create a 1 m land-cover classification map of the expansive Phoenix metropolitan area through the use of high spatial resolution aerial photography from National Agricultural Imagery Program. It employs an expert knowledge decision rule set and incorporates the cadastral GIS vector layer as auxiliary data. The classification rule was established on a hierarchical image object network, and the properties of parcels in the vector layer were used to establish land cover types. Image segmentations were initially utilized to separate the aerial photos into parcel sized objects, and were further used for detailed land type identification within the parcels. Characteristics of image objects from contextual and geometrical aspects were used in the decision rule set to reduce the spectral limitation of the four-band aerial photography. Classification results include 12 land-cover classes and subclasses that may be assessed from the sub-parcel to the landscape scales, facilitating examination of scale dynamics. The proposed object-based classification method provides robust results, uses minimal and readily available ancillary data, and reduces computational time.     

区域多尺度马尔可夫随机场的遥感影像分类

多尺度分析技术广泛应用于高分辨率遥感影像的特征提取和建模。分解层数受制于影像的大小,下采样小波变换实现的影像多尺度表达难以描述大范围的空间模式,导致分类结果出现"胡椒盐"现象;面向对象的影像分析技术虽避免了"胡椒盐"现象,但由于仅利用了单尺度的的特征,也难以描述影像多层次的空间模式,导致分类精度较低。为改善分类结果中的"胡椒盐"现象和提高分类精度,提出了一种结合区域多尺度遥感影像分割和马尔可夫随机场的分类方法。首先,获得原始影像过分割区域,依据区域内亮度均值以及区域间的共享边界长度信息,提取影像低频和高频特征,采用该低频特征波段代替原始影像,重复分割与特征波段提取过程,形成影像的区域多尺度表达。然后,以原始图像为初始尺度,以分割区域为处理单元,以更细尺度分类结果为标记场先验,以当前高频特征建立特征场,逐层分类、投影,获得最终尺度分类结果。合成纹理影像和多光谱遥感影像的实验表明:相比于小波域多尺度建模方法和单尺度区域建模方法,本文提出的方法可以有效提高分类精度,并避免"胡椒盐"现象的产生。     

高光谱图像空间光谱维去相关噪声评估

高光谱图像噪声评估既是评价图像质量的重要内容,也是衡量传感器性能的重要指标。一般噪声评估方法通过对图像规则分割或利用某种距离准则对图像进行连续性分割,计算图像子块的局部标准差或多元线性回归的残差来实现对图像噪声的估计。但这些方法获取的图像子块并不是完全均匀的,图像子块中仍然会存在地物边界,导致图像噪声评估的结果不准确。为了有效提取图像中的均匀子块,本文提出了一种优化的空间光谱维去相关（OSSDC）方法,基于光谱角距离和欧氏距离双重判定,从光谱曲线的形状和数值上寻找相似像元,获取图像中的均匀子块,然后利用多元线性回归计算残差实现对图像噪声的估算。利用模拟图像和实际航空飞行实验获取的高光谱图像对优化算法进行检验,同时与几种常用噪声评估方法进行对比分析,结果表明优化后的算法计算结果更准确,稳定性和适用性优于其他方法。     

Utilizing the Potential of World View −2 for Discriminating Urban and Vegetation Features Using Object Based Classification Techniques

With the availability of very high resolution multispectral imagery, it is possible to identify small features in urban environment. Because of the multiscale feature and diverse composition of land cover types found within the urban environment, the production of accurate urban land cover maps from high resolution satellite imagery is a difficult task. This paper demonstrates the potential of 8 bands capability of World View 2 satellite for better automated feature extraction and discrimination studies. Multiresolution segmentation and object based classification techniques were then applied for discrimination of urban and vegetation features in a part of Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. The study demonstrates that scale, colour, shape, compactness and smoothness have a significant influence on the quality of image objects achieved, which in turn governs the classified result. The object oriented analysis is a valid approach for analyzing high spatial and spectral resolution images. World View 2 imagery with its rich spatial and spectral information content has very high potential for discrimination of the less varied varieties of vegetation.     

结合空间分析的面向对象无人机影像土地利用分类

利用高分辨遥感影像进行土地利用分类,为农村土地利用动态监测及土地综合整治快速地提供基础地理空间数据。以高分辨无人机影像为数据源,研究利用面向对象多尺度分割技术结合GIS空间分析对影像进行土地利用分类。根据对象内同质性高、对象间异质性高的准则,引入加权局部方差与空间自相关指数构建全局最优分割非监督评价指数,然后利用最邻近分类器对影像进行分类。实验结果表明,该方法减少人工目视确定最优分割尺度的主观性,能够避免某些地物不能被有效归类的现象,在单一尺度下获得较高的分类精度。