Multi-scale,object-based image analysis for mapping geomorphic and ecological zones on coral reefs

Providing accurate maps of coral reefs where the spatial scale and labels of the mapped features correspond to map units appropriate for examining biological and geomorphic structures and processes is a major challenge for remote sensing. The objective of this work is to assess the accuracy and relevance of the process used to derive geomorphic zone and benthic community zone maps for three western Pacific coral reefs produced from multi-scale, object-based image analysis (OBIA) of high-spatial-resolution multi-spectral images, guided by field survey data. Three Quickbird-2 multi-spectral data sets from reefs in Australia, Palau and Fiji and georeferenced field photographs were used in a multi-scale segmentation and object-based image classification to map geomorphic zones and benthic community zones. A per-pixel approach was also tested for mapping benthic community zones. Validation of the maps and comparison to past approaches indicated the multi-scale OBIA process enabled field data, operator field experience and a conceptual hierarchical model of the coral reef environment to be linked to provide output maps at geomorphic zone and benthic community scales on coral reefs. The OBIA mapping accuracies were comparable with previously published work using other methods; however, the classes mapped were matched to a predetermined set of features on the reef.     

A multiscale approach to texture-based image retrieval

This paper presents research on a robust technique for texture-based image retrieval in multimedia museum collections. The aim is to be able to use a query image patch containing a single texture to retrieve images containing an area with similar texture to that in the query. The feature extractor used to build the feature vectors is based on an improved version of the discrete wavelet frames (DWF), proposed elsewhere. In order to utilise the feature extractor on real scene image datasets, a block-oriented decomposition technique, termed the multiscale sub-image matching method, is presented. The multiscale method, together with the DWF, provide an efficient content-based retrieval technique without the need for segmentation. The algorithms are tested on a range of databases of texture images as well as on real museum image collections. Promising results are reported.

Impervious surface extraction from high-resolution satellite image using pixel- and object-based hybrid analysis

High-resolution satellite imaging provides a wealth of details about the Earth's surface, but it is still a challenge to determine the complex, impervious surface from high-resolution satellite images. A pixel- and object-based hybrid analysis (POHA) method is proposed for the extraction task. Pixel-based analysis is first applied to provide prior knowledge; then, based on prior knowledge, the subsequent object-based analysis is simply to find similar rather than new impervious objects using a weighted minimum distance strategy. In order to combine different image analysis methods, the segmentation masking strategy was introduced to transform the image analysis from pixel level to object level. A QuickBird image of Hangzhou City in China was used to test POHA. Furthermore, POHA was compared with both the pixel-based analysis and object-based image analysis (OBIA) methods, showing that POHA runs with limited human–computer interactions, and can provide accurate impervious surface mapping.     

Exploring the synergistic use of multi-scale image object metrics for land-use/land-cover mapping using an object-based approach

This study presents a new method for the synergistic use of multi-scale image object metrics for land-use/land-cover mapping using an object-based classification approach. This new method can integrate an object with its super-objects’ metrics. The entire classification involves two object hierarchies: (1) a five-level object hierarchy to extract object metrics at five scales, and (2) a three-level object hierarchy for the classification process. A five-level object hierarchy was developed through multi-scale segmentation to calculate and extract both spectral and textural metrics. Layers representing the hierarchy at each of the five scales were then intersected by using the overlay tool, an intersected layer was created with metrics from all five scales, and the same geometric elements were retained as those of the objects of the lowest level. A decision tree analysis was then used to build rules for the classification of the intersected layer, which subsequently served as the thematic layer in a three-level object hierarchy to identify shadow regions and produce the final map. The use of multi-scale object metrics yielded improved classification results compared with single-scale metrics, which indicates that multi-scale object metrics provide valuable spatial information. This method can fully utilize metrics at multiple scales and shows promise for use in object-based classification approaches.     

Segmentation optimization and stratified object-based analysis for semi-automated geomorphological mapping

Semi-automated geomorphological mapping techniques are gradually replacing classical techniques due to increasing availability of high-quality digital topographic data. In order to efficiently analyze such large amounts of data, there is a need for optimizing the processing of automated mapping techniques. In this context, we present a novel approach to semi-automatically map alpine geomorphology using stratified object-based image analysis. We used a 1 m Digital Terrain Model (DTM) derived from laser altimetry data from a mountainous catchment from which we calculated various Land-Surface Parameters (LSPs). The LSPs ‘slope angle’ and ‘topographic openness’ have been combined into a single composite layer for selecting reference material and delineating training samples. We developed a novel method to semi-automatically assess segmentation results by comparing 2D frequency distribution matrices of training samples and image objects. The segmentation accuracy assessment allowed us to automate optimization of the scale parameter and LSPs used for segmentation. We concluded that different geomorphological feature types have different sets of optimal segmentation parameters. The feature-dependent parameters were used in a new approach of stratified feature extraction for classifying karst, glacial, fluvial and denudational landforms. In this way, we have used stratified object-based image analysis to semi-automatically extract contrasting geomorphological features from high-resolution digital terrain data. A further step would be to also automate the optimization of classification rules. We would then be able to create a library of feature characteristics that could be transferred and applied to other mountain regions and further automate geomorphological mapping strategies.     

Laplacian pyramid networks: A new approach for multispectral pansharpening

Pansharpening is about fusing a high spatial resolution panchromatic image with a simultaneously acquired multispectral image with lower spatial resolution. In this paper, we propose a Laplacian pyramid pansharpening network architecture for accurately fusing a high spatial resolution panchromatic image and a low spatial resolution multispectral image, aiming at getting a higher spatial resolution multispectral image. The proposed architecture considers three aspects. First, we use the Laplacian pyramid method whose blur kernels are designed according to the sensors’ modulation transfer functions to separate the images into multiple scales for fully exploiting the crucial spatial information at different spatial scales. Second, we develop a fusion convolutional neural network (FCNN) for each scale, combining them to form the final multi-scale network architecture. Specifically, we use recursive layers for the FCNN to share parameters across and within pyramid levels, thus significantly reducing the network parameters. Third, a total loss consisting of multiple across-scale loss functions is employed for training, yielding higher accuracy. Extensive experimental results based on quantitative and qualitative assessments exploiting benchmarking datasets demonstrate that the proposed architecture outperforms state-of-the-art pansharpening methods. Code is available at https://github.com/ChengJin-git/LPPN.     

A hybrid automatic image annotation approach

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Automated image annotation (AIA) is an important issue in computer vision and pattern recognition, and plays an extremely important role in retrieving...     

A theoretical and practical survey of image fusion methods for multispectral pansharpening

Pansharpening fuses the spatial features of a high-resolution panchromatic (PAN) image with the spectral features of a lower-resolution multispectral (MS) image to generate a spatially enriched MS image. Numerous pansharpening strategies have been developed for more than three decades, which forces the analysts who intend to apply pansharpening to choose from various pansharpening techniques. Hence, this study aims to investigate the performances of many conventional and state-of-the-art pansharpening techniques in order to guide the analysts in this regard. To this aim, the spectral and spatial structure fidelity of the pansharpened images produced from a total of 47 pansharpening methods were evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively. The methods examined were from six pansharpening methods categories, including Multiresolution Analysis (MRA)-based, Component Substitution (CS)-based, Colour-Based (CB), Deep Learning (DL)-based, Variational Optimization (VO)-based and hybrid techniques. The methods in the MRA, DL, CB and VO category were found to exhibit the best pansharpening performances; whereas the hybrid and CS-based techniques showed the poorest performances. We believe that the outcomes of this study will guide the analysts who are in the need to apply pansharpening for their applications.     

A Multiscale Approach to Automatic Medical Image Segmentation Using Self-Organizing Map

In this paper,a new medical image classification scheme is proposed using selforganizing map(SOM)combined with multiscale technique.It addresses the problem of the handling of edge pixels in the traditional multiscale SOM classifiers.First,to solve the difficulty in manual selection of edge pixels,a multiscale edge detection algorithm based on wavelet transform is proposed.Edge pixels detected are then selected into the training set as a new class and a multiscale SOM classifier is trained using this training set.In this new scheme,the SOM classifier can perform both the classification on the entire image and the edge detection simultaneously.On the other hand,the misclassification of the traditional multiscale SOM classifier in regions near edges is graeatly reduced and the correct classification is improved at the same time.     

Requirements for labelling forest polygons in an object-based image analysis classification

The ability to spatially quantify changes in the landscape and create land-cover maps is one of the most powerful uses of remote sensing. Recent advances in object-based image analysis (OBIA) have also improved classification techniques for developing land-cover maps. However, when using an OBIA technique, collecting ground data to label reference units may not be straightforward, since these segments generally contain a variable number of pixels as well as a variety of pixel values, which may reflect variation in land-cover composition. Accurate classification of reference units can be particularly difficult in forested land-cover types, since these classes can be quite variable on the ground. This study evaluates how many prism sample locations are needed to attain an acceptable level of accuracy within forested reference units in southeastern New Hampshire (NH). Typical forest inventory guidelines suggest at least 10 prism samples per stand, depending on the stand area and stand type. However, because OBIA segments group pixels based on the variance of the pixels, fewer prism samples may be necessary in a segment to properly estimate the stand composition. A bootstrapping statistical technique was used to find the necessary number of prism samples to limit the variance associated with estimating the species composition of a segment. Allowing for the lowest acceptable variance, a maximum of only six prism samples was necessary to label forested reference units. All polygons needed at least two prism samples for classification.     

The application of discriminant analysis for mapping cereals and pasture using object-based features

High mapping accuracies occur where crops differ spectrally (e.g.>90.0%; canola, corn, soybeans) and vice versa (e.g. <75.0%; cereals and pasture). Developing improved mapping methods has been an ongoing priority of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) remote-sensing science. To this end, this study tests a data-driven object-based classification method using Discriminant Analysis (DA) method for mapping cereals and pasture from satellite data. In this approach, variables (number >400) derived from the image segmentation and object-based feature extraction of multi-date and multi-band optical (RapidEye) and microwave (RADARSAT-2) imagery were applied in a data-driven approach. We use in situ and satellite information collected over two study sites with different levels of heterogeneity (Winnipeg, Brandon) situated in the Canadian Prairies during the 2013 growing season to assess: (a) the type of DA model that most accurately classifies the cereals and pasture cover classes; and (b) how the classification accuracies obtained by the application of this DA model compare to those obtained from more traditional Maximum Likelihood (ML), Decision Tree (DT), and Random Forest (RF) classifications. We found that our DA-based approach was able to map cereals and pastures at our two study sites with the highest accuracies, but these accuracies did not improve significantly with the use of more complex DA model (including priori classification probabilities, more input principle components (PCs), the use of weights proportional to field area). Our results are encouraging for the wider application of the data-driven pre-processing of the inputs to the image classification by DA.     

基于Wedgelet的SAR图像多尺度快速分割方法*

为了解决基于Wedgelet变换的多尺度分割算法在楔形方向的选择上需要计算所有分解楔形系数,且没有利用上层分解的结果,计算量特别大的问题,提出一种从图像的几何结构出发,在图像四分树的基础上加以楔形区域分割,在矩形区域的楔形方向选取上建立多分辨分析的算法.该算法在上层分割的基础上,只需计算八个方向的Wedgelet,而不是所有方向,既避免了窗口初始化,降低了分割过程特征抽取的复杂性,又减少了迭代次数.经试验比较,本文方法优于同类方法.     

New semi-automated mapping of asbestos cement roofs using rule-based object-based image analysis and Taguchi optimization technique from WorldView-2 images

The use of asbestos cement (AC) roofing materials is a significant concern because of their deleterious effects on human health and the environment. The main objective of this study was to map AC roofs from WorldView-2 (WV-2) images using object-based image analysis (OBIA). A robust Taguchi optimization technique was used to optimize segmentation parameters for WV-2 images in heterogeneous urban areas. In this research, two subsets of WV-2 satellite image sets were utilized to map AC roofs. Rule-based OBIA framework was developed on the first study area. Different supervised OBIA classifiers, such as Bayes, k-nearest neighbour (k-NN), support vector machine (SVM), and random forest (RF), were tested on the first image of the study areas to evaluate the performance of a rule-based classifier. Results of the supervised classifiers showed confusion between AC roof class and some urban features, with overall accuracies of 72.21%, 77%, 81.75%, and 82.02% for Bayes, k-NN, SVM, and RF, respectively. To assess the transferability of the proposed method, the adopted classification framework was applied to larger subsets of WV-2 of the second study area. The results of the proposed approach showed outstanding performance, with overall accuracies of 93.10% and 90.74% for the first and second classified images, respectively. The McNemar test emphasized the statistical reliability of rule-based result (in the first site) compared with supervised classification results. Therefore, the proposed framework of using rule-based classification and Taguchi optimization technique provide an efficient and expeditious approach to mapping and monitoring the presence of AC roofs and help local authorities in their decision-making strategies and policies.     

A hybrid of deep learning and hand-crafted features based approach for snow cover mapping

Monitoring the extent of snow cover plays a vital role for a better understanding of current and future climatic, ecological, and water cycle conditions. Previously, several traditional machine learning models have been applied for accomplishing this while exploring a variety of feature extraction techniques on various information sources. However, the laborious process of any amount of hand-crafted feature extraction has not helped to obtain high accuracies. Recently, deep learning models have shown that feature extraction can be made automatic and that they can achieve the required high accuracies but at the cost of requiring a large amount of labelled data. Fortunately, despite the absence of such large amounts of labelled data for this task, we can rely on pre-trained models, which accept red-green-blue (RGB) information (or dimensions-reduced spectral data). However, it is always better to include a variety of information sources to solve any problem, especially with the availability of other important information sources like synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery and elevation. We propose a hybrid model where the deep learning is assisted by these information sources which have until now been left out. Particularly, our model learns from both the deep learning features (derived from spectral data) and the hand-crafted features (derived from SAR and elevation). Such an approach shows interesting performance-improvement from 96.02% (through deep learning alone) to 98.10% when experiments were conducted for Khiroi village of the Himalayan region in India.     

A multiscale gradient algorithm for image segmentation using watershelds

Watershed transformation is a powerful tool for image segmentation. However, the effectiveness of the image segmentation methods based on watershed transformation is limited by the quality of the gradient image used in the methods. In this paper we present a multiscale algorithm for computing gradient images, with effective handling of both step and blurred edges. We also present an algorithm for eliminating irrelevant minima in the resulting gradient images. Experimental results indicate that watershed transformation with the algorithms proposed in this paper produces meaningful segmentations, even without a region merging step. The proposed algorithms can efficiently improve segmentation accuracy and significantly reduce the computational cost of watershed-based image segmentation methods.     

多尺度超像素分割和奇异谱分析的高光谱影像分类

目的 高光谱影像（hyperspectral image,HSI）中“同物异谱,异物同谱”的现象普遍存在,使分类结果存在严重的椒盐噪声问题。HSI中的空间地物结构复杂多样,单一尺度的空间特征提取方法无法有效地表达地物类间差异和区分地物边界。有效解决光谱混淆和空间尺度问题是提高分类精度的关键。方法 结合多尺度超像素和奇异谱分析,提出一种新的高光谱影像分类方法,从而充分挖掘地物的局部空间特征和光谱特征,解决空间尺度和光谱混淆的问题,提高分类精度。利用多尺度超像素对影像进行分割,获取不同尺度的分割影像,同时在分割区域内进行均值滤波,减少类内的光谱差异,增强类间的光谱差异;对每个区域计算平均光谱向量,并利用奇异谱分析方法获取光谱的主要鉴别特征,同时消除噪声的影响;利用支持向量机对不同尺度超像素分割影像进行分类,并进行决策融合,得到最终的分类结果。结果 实验选取了两个标准高光谱数据集和一个真实数据集,结果表明,利用本文算法提取的光谱—空间特征进行分类,比直接在原始数据上进行分类分别提高约26.8%、9.2%和13%的精度;与先进的深度学习SSRN （spectral-spatial residual network）算法相比,本文算法在精度上分别提升约5.2%、0.7%和4%,并且运行时间仅为前者的18.3%、45.4%和62.1%,处理效率更高。此外,在训练样本有限的情况下,两个标准数据集的样本分别为1%和0.2%时,本文算法均能取得87%以上的分类精度。结论 针对高光谱影像分类中的难题,提出一种新的融合光谱和多尺度空间特征的HSI分类方法。实验结果表明,本文方法优于对比方法,可以产生更精细的分类结果。