A New Search Algorithm for Feature Selection in Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Images

A new suboptimal search strategy suitable for feature selection in very high-dimensional remote-sensing images (e.g. those acquired by hyperspectral sensors) is proposed. Each solution of the feature selection problem is represented as a binary string that indicates which features are selected and which are disregarded. In turn, each binary string corresponds to a point of a multidimensional binary space. Given a criterion function to evaluate the effectiveness of a selected solution, the proposed strategy is based on the search for constrained local extremes of such a function in the above-defined binary space. In particular, two different algorithms are presented that explore the space of solutions in different ways. These algorithms are compared with the classical sequential forward selection and sequential forward floating selection suboptimal techniques, using hyperspectral remote-sensing images (acquired by the AVIRIS sensor) as a data set. Experimental results point out the effectiveness of both algorithms, which can be regarded as valid alternatives to classical methods, as they allow interesting tradeoffs between the qualities of selected feature subsets and computational cost

SAR Amplitude Probability Density Function Estimation Based on a Generalized Gaussian Model

International audienceIn the context of remotely sensed data analysis, an important problem is the development of accurate models for the statistics of the pixel intensities. Focusing on synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data, this modeling process turns out to be a crucial task, for instance, for classification or for denoising purposes. In this paper, an innovative parametric estimation methodology for SAR amplitude data is proposed that adopts a generalized Gaussian (GG) model for the complex SAR backscattered signal. A closed-form expression for the corresponding amplitude probability density function (PDF) is derived and a specific parameter estimation algorithm is developed in order to deal with the proposed model. Specifically, the recently proposed “method-of-log-cumulants” (MoLC) is applied, which stems from the adoption of the Mellin transform (instead of the usual Fourier transform) in the computation of characteristic functions and from the corresponding generalization of the concepts of moment and cumulant. For the developed GG-based amplitude model, the resulting MoLC estimates turn out to be numerically feasible and are also analytically proved to be consistent. The proposed parametric approach was validated by using several real ERS-1, XSAR, E-SAR, and NASA/JPL airborne SAR images, and the experimental results prove that the method models the amplitude PDF better than several previously proposed parametric models for backscattering phenomena

A markovian approach to unsupervised change detection with multiresolution and multimodality SAR data

In the framework of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems, current satellite missions make it possible to acquire images at very high and multiple spatial resolutions with short revisit times. This scenario conveys a remarkable potential in applications to, for instance, environmental monitoring and natural disaster recovery. In this context, data fusion and change detection methodologies play major roles. This paper proposes an unsupervised change detection algorithmfor the challenging case of multimodal SAR data collected by sensors operating atmultiple spatial resolutions. The method is based on Markovian probabilistic graphical models, graph cuts, linear mixtures, generalized Gaussian distributions, Gram-Charlier approximations, maximum likelihood and minimum mean squared error estimation. It benefits from the SAR images acquired at multiple spatial resolutions and with possibly different modalities on the considered acquisition times to generate an output change map at the finest observed resolution. This is accomplished by modeling the statistics of the data at the various spatial scales through appropriate generalized Gaussian distributions and by iteratively estimating a set of virtual images that are defined on the pixel grid at the finest resolution and would be collected if all the sensors could work at that resolution. A Markov random field framework is adopted to address the detection problem by defining an appropriate multimodal energy function that is minimized using graph cuts

Modeling the statistics of high resolution SAR images

In the context of remotely sensed data analysis, a crucial problem is represented by the need to develop accurate models for the statistics of pixel intensities. In this work, we develop a parametric finite mixture model for modelling the statistics of intensities in high resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images. Along with the models we design an efficient parameter estimation scheme by integrating the Stochastic Expectation Maximization scheme and the Method of log-cumulants with an automatic technique to select, for each mixture component, an optimal parametric model taken from a predefined dictionary of parametric probability density functions (pdf). In particular, the proposed dictionary consists of eight most efficient state-of-the-art SAR-specific pdfs: Nakagami, log-normal, generalized Gaussian Rayleigh, Heavy-tailed Rayleigh, Weibull, K-root, Fisher and generalized Gamma. The experiment results with a set of several real SAR (COSMO-SkyMed) images demonstrate the high accuracy of the designed algorithm, both from the viewpoint of a visual comparison of the histograms, and from the viewpoint of quantitive measures such as correlation coefficient (always above 99,5%) . We stress, in particular, that the method proves to be effective on all the considered images, remaining accurate for multimodal and highly heterogeneous images

SAR amplitude probability density function estimation based on a generalized Gaussian scattering model

In the context of remotely sensed data analysis, an important problem is the development of accurate models for the statistics of the pixel intensities. Focusing on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, this modelling process turns out to be a crucial task, for instance, for classification or for denoising purposes. In the present report, an innovative parametric estimation methodology for SAR amplitude data is proposed, which takes into account the physical nature of the scattering phenomena generating a SAR image by adopting a generalized Gaussian (GG) model for the backscattering phenomena. A closed form expression for the corresponding amplitude probability density function (PDF) is derived and a specific parameter estimation algorithm is developed in order to deal with the proposed model. Specifically, the recently proposed «method-of-log-cumulants» (MoLC) is applied, which stems from the adoption of the Mellin transform (instead of the usual Fourier transform) in the computation of characteristic functions, and from the corresponding generalization of the concepts of moment and of cumulant. For the developed GG-based amplitude model, the resulting MoLC estimates turn out to be numerically feasible and are also proved to be consistent. The proposed parametric approach is validated using several real ERS-1, XSAR, ESAR and airborne SAR images and the experimental results prove that the method models the amplitude probability density function better than several previously proposed parametric models for the backscattering phenomena

Dictionary-based Stochastic Expectation-Maximization for SAR amplitude probability density function estimation

In the context of remotely sensed data analysis, a crucial problem is represented by the need to develop accurate models for the statistics of the pixel intensities. In the current research report, we address the problem of parametric probability density function (PDF) estimation in the context of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) amplitude data analysis. Specifically, several theoretical and heuristic models for the PDFs of SAR data have been proposed in the literature, and have been proved to be effective for different land-cover typologies, thus making the choice of a single optimal SAR parametric PDF a hard task. In thia report, an innovative estimation algorithm is proposed, which addresses this problem by adopting a finite mixture model (FMM) for the amplitude PDF, with mixture components belonging to a given dictionary of SAR-specific PDFs. The proposed method automatically integrates the procedures of selection of the optimal model for each component, of parameter estimation, and of optimization of the number of components, by combining the Stochastic Expectation Maximization (SEM) iterative methodology and the recently proposed «method-of-log-cumulants» (MoLC) for parametric PDF estimation for non-negative random variables. Experimental results on several real SAR images are presented, showing the proposed method is accurately modelling the statistics of SAR amplitude data

Automatic extraction of planetary image features

A method for the extraction of Lunar data and/or planetary features is provided. The feature extraction method can include one or more image processing techniques, including, but not limited to, a watershed segmentation and/or the generalized Hough Transform. According to some embodiments, the feature extraction method can include extracting features, such as, small rocks. According to some embodiments, small rocks can be extracted by applying a watershed segmentation algorithm to the Canny gradient. According to some embodiments, applying a watershed segmentation algorithm to the Canny gradient can allow regions that appear as close contours in the gradient to be segmented

Automatic Feature Extraction from Planetary Images

With the launch of several planetary missions in the last decade, a large amount of planetary images has already been acquired and much more will be available for analysis in the coming years. The image data need to be analyzed, preferably by automatic processing techniques because of the huge amount of data. Although many automatic feature extraction methods have been proposed and utilized for Earth remote sensing images, these methods are not always applicable to planetary data that often present low contrast and uneven illumination characteristics. Different methods have already been presented for crater extraction from planetary images, but the detection of other types of planetary features has not been addressed yet. Here, we propose a new unsupervised method for the extraction of different features from the surface of the analyzed planet, based on the combination of several image processing techniques, including a watershed segmentation and the generalized Hough Transform. The method has many applications, among which image registration and can be applied to arbitrary planetary images

On the Method of Logarithmic Cumulants for Parametric Probability Density Function Estimation

Parameter estimation of probability density functions is one of the major steps in the mainframe of statistical image and signal processing. In this report we explore the properties and limitations of the recently proposed method of logarithmic cumulants (MoLC) parameter estimation approach which is an alternative to the classical maximum likelihood (ML) and method of moments (MoM) approaches. We derive the general sufficient condition of strong consistency of MoLC estimates which represents an important asymptotic property of any statistical estimator. With its help we demonstrate the strong consistency of MoLC estimates for a selection of widely used distribution families originating (but not restricted to) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image processing. We then derive the analytical conditions of applicability of MoLC to samples generated from several distribution families in our selection. Finally, we conduct various synthetic and real data experiments to assess the comparative properties, applicability and small sample performance of MoLC notably for the generalized gamma and K family of distributions. Supervised image classification experiments are considered for medical ultrasound and remote sensing SAR imagery. The obtained results suggest MoLC to be a feasible yet not universally applicable alternative to MoM that can be considered when the direct ML approach turns out to be unfeasible.L'estimation de paramètres de fonctions de densité de probabilité est une étape majeure dans le domaine du traitement statistique du signal et des images. Dans ce rapport, nous étudions les propriétés et les limites de l'estimation de paramètres par la méthode des cumulants logarithmiques (MoLC), qui est une alternative à la fois au maximum de vraisemblance (MV) classique et à la méthode des moments. Nous dérivons la condition générale suffisante de consistance forte de l'estimation par la méthode MoLC, qui représente une propriété asymptotique importante de tout estimateur statistique. Grâce à cela, nous démontrons la consistance forte de l'estimation par la méthode MoLC pour une sélection de familles de distributions particulièrement adaptées (mais non restreintes) au traitement d'images acquises par radar à synthèse d'ouverture (RSO). Nous dérivons ensuite les conditions analytiques d'applicabilité de la méthode MoLC à des échantillons générés qui suivent les lois des différentes familles de distribution de notre sélection. Enfin, nous testons la méthode MoLC sur des données synthétiques et réelles afin de comparer les différentes propriétés inhérentes aux différents types d'images, l'applicabilité de la méthode et les effets d'un nombre restreint d'échantillons. Nous avons, en particulier, considéré les distributions gamma généralisée et K. Comme exemple d'application, nous avons réalisé des classifications supervisées d'images médicales à ultrason ainsi que d'images de télédétection acquises par des capteurs RSO. Les résultats obtenus montrent que la méthode MoLC est une bonne alternative à la méthode des moments, bien qu'elle contienne certaines limitations. Elle est particulièrement utile lorsqu'une approche directe par MV n'est pas possible