A novel linear feature detector for SAR images

Abstract

A new linear feature detector for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is presented in this article by embedding a three-region filter into the wedgelet analysis framework. One of its main features is that it can detect linear features with a range of varying widths and orientations in the same image by changing the direction and size of the detector mask within a multiscale framework. In addition, this detector takes into account both statistical and geometrical characteristics to detect line segments directly instead of detecting target pixels. To show its effectiveness, the detector is applied to extract one of the most important linear features: roads. Results and comparisons with several multiscale analysis techniques as well as ratio correlation detector on DLR E-SAR images reveal its advantages. © 2012 He et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.