Segmentation-based PolSAR image classification using visual features: RHLBP and color features

Abstract

A segmentation-based fully-polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) image classification method that incorporates texture features and color features is designed and implemented. This method is based on the framework that conjunctively uses statistical region merging (SRM) for segmentation and support vector machine (SVM) for classification. In the segmentation step, we propose an improved local binary pattern (LBP) operator named the regional homogeneity local binary pattern (RHLBP) to guarantee the regional homogeneity in PolSAR images. In the classification step, the color features extracted from false color images are applied to improve the classification accuracy. The RHLBP operator and color features can provide discriminative information to separate those pixels and regions with similar polarimetric features, which are from different classes. Extensive experimental comparison results with conventional methods on L-band PolSAR data demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method for PolSAR image classification.