Exploration of Semantic Geo-Object Recognition Based on the Scale Parameter Optimization Method for Remote Sensing Images

• Main Authors: Jun Wang, Lili Jiang, Qingwen Qi, Yongji Wang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-06-01
• Series: ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information
• Subjects: GEOBIA; image segmentation; parameter optimization; semantic geo-object; Gaofen-1 images
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/10/6/420

Image segmentation is of significance because it can provide objects that are the minimum analysis units for geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA). Most segmentation methods usually set parameters to identify geo-objects, and different parameter settings lead to different segmentation results; thus, parameter optimization is critical to obtain satisfactory segmentation results. Currently, many parameter optimization methods have been developed and successfully applied to the identification of single geo-objects. However, few studies have focused on the recognition of the union of different types of geo-objects (semantic geo-objects), such as a park. The recognition of semantic geo-objects is likely more crucial than that of single geo-objects because the former type of recognition is more correlated with the human perception. This paper proposes an approach to recognize semantic geo-objects. The key concept is that a single geo-object is the smallest component unit of a semantic geo-object, and semantic geo-objects are recognized by iteratively merging single geo-objects. Thus, the optimal scale of the semantic geo-objects is determined by iteratively recognizing the optimal scales of single geo-objects and using them as the initiation point of the reset scale parameter optimization interval. In this paper, we adopt the multiresolution segmentation (MRS) method to segment Gaofen-1 images and tested three scale parameter optimization methods to validate the proposed approach. The results show that the proposed approach can determine the scale parameters, which can produce semantic geo-objects.