Minimization-pruning algorithm for finding elliptical boundaries in images with nonconstant background and with missing data

Domingo A. Mihovilovic; Ramin Samadani

doi:10.1117/12.58358

19 May 1992 Minimization-pruning algorithm for finding elliptical boundaries in images with nonconstant background and with missing data

Domingo A. Mihovilovic, Ramin Samadani

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Proceedings Volume 1657, Image Processing Algorithms and Techniques III; (1992) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.58358
Event: SPIE/IS&T 1992 Symposium on Electronic Imaging: Science and Technology, 1992, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

The DE-1 satellite has gathered over 500,000 images of the Earth's aurora using ultraviolet and visible light photometers. The extraction of the boundaries delimiting the auroral oval allows the computation of important parameters for the geophysical study of the phenomenon such as total area and total integrated magnetic field. This paper describes an unsupervised technique that we call 'minimization-pruning' that finds the boundaries of the auroral oval. The technique is based on concepts that are relevant to a wide range of applications having characteristics similar to this application, namely images with variable background, high noise levels and missing data. Among the advantages of the new technique are the ability to find the object of interest even with intense interfering background noise, and the ability to find the outline of an object even if only a section of it is visible. The technique is based on the assumption that certain regions of the object are less obscured by the background, and hence the information provided by these regions is more important for finding the boundaries. The implementation of the technique consists of an iterative minimization-pruning algorithm, in which a fundamental part is a measure of the quality of the data for different regions along the boundary. Calculation of this measure is simplified by transforming the input image into polar coordinates. The technique has been applied to a set of more than 100 images of the aurora with good results. We also show examples of extraction of the inner and outer boundaries starting from the elliptical approximation and analyzing the image locally around that solution.

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Domingo A. Mihovilovic and Ramin Samadani "Minimization-pruning algorithm for finding elliptical boundaries in images with nonconstant background and with missing data", Proc. SPIE 1657, Image Processing Algorithms and Techniques III, (19 May 1992); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.58358

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KEYWORDS

Auroras

Image processing

Satellites

Satellite imaging

Earth observing sensors

Image quality

Ultraviolet radiation

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