Image processing techniques are described that assist an operator in delineating planimetric features in digital imagery. The techniques are simple, robust and highly efficient, allowing the processing to occur at interactive rates. The operator defines a general path for the feature, for example a road, by moving a cursor along the road. Simultaneously, the computer processes a moving window of pixel data along the direction defined by the operator and produces a centerline for the road. These data are converted into vector form and entered into line sets for subsequent GIS Processing or mapping applications. By combining manual and computer-assisted feature delineation, an efficient, less labor-intensive, more objective feature extraction approach results. An example application of this approach to road mapping in a rural area is presented.

Date Published: 12 October 1988
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 0924, Recent Advances in Sensors, Radiometry, and Data Processing for Remote Sensing, (12 October 1988); doi: 10.1117/12.945699

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 0924:
Recent Advances in Sensors, Radiometry, and Data Processing for Remote Sensing
Philip N. Slater, Editor(s)