An unbiased algorithm for detection of curvilinear structures in urban remote sensing images

Abstract

Based on the Gaussian scale‐space, a Gaussian comparison function is presented for extracting the linearly road features in aerial remote sensing image. Combining the geometric and radiometric features, the curvilinear structures of the roads are extracted based on locally oriented energy in continuous scale‐space. Curvilinear features of roads are verified, grouped and extracted by using both topologic and geometric methods. This algorithm is applicable to extracting the road features in different scale such as rural roads or urban highways, and significantly reduces the computation complexity of line tracing. Some discussions on the zero drift of the Gaussian comparison function are also presented.

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the China State Major Basic Research Project 2001CB309400 and NSFC 40637033, 60571050.