Detection of Airport Runway Edges using Line Detection Techniques

Airport runway detection is a vital aspect for both military and commercial applications. An algorithm to extract runway edges based on edge detection and line detection techniques is discussed. The runway images are initially enhanced by dilation, thresholding and edge detection. Based on some unique characteristics like the runway being gray with two white lines indicating the runway boundaries, long and continuous edges of the runway are considered to be straight lines. The straight lines are detected using Convolution operators pertaining to vertical, 45° or -45° lines. Hough Transform is then applied to fit only the pair of lines corresponding to the runway boundaries in certain orientations. The test results prove that combination of Convolution and Hough transform is very competent in detecting runway edges accurately