A correction technique for false topographic perception of remote-sensing images based on an inverse topographic correction technique

The false topographic perception phenomenon (FTPP) refers to the visual misperception in remote-sensing images that certain types of terrains are visually interpreted as other types in rugged lands, for example, valleys as ridges and troughs as peaks. For this reason, the FTPP can influence the visualization and interpretation of images to a great extent. To scrutinize this problem, the paper firstly reviews and tests the existing FTPP-correction techniques and identifies the inverse slope-matching technique as an effective approach to visually enhance remote-sensing images and retain the colour information. The paper then proposes an improved FTPP-correction procedure that incorporates other image-processing techniques (e.g. linear stretch, histogram matching, and flat-area replacement) to enhance the performance of this technique. A further evaluation of the proposed technique is conducted by applying the technique to various study areas and using different types of remote-sensing images. The result indicates the method is relatively robust and will be a significant extension to geovisual analytics in digital earth research.