A Simple and Robust Feature Point Matching Algorithm Based on Restricted Spatial Order Constraints for Aerial Image Registration

Accurate point matching is a critical and challenging process in feature-based image registration. In this paper, a simple and robust feature point matching algorithm, called Restricted Spatial Order Constraints (RSOC), is proposed to remove outliers for registering aerial images with monotonous backgrounds, similar patterns, low overlapping areas, and large affine transformation. In RSOC, both local structure and global information are considered. Based on adjacent spatial order, an affine invariant descriptor is defined, and point matching is formulated as an optimization problem. A graph matching method is used to solve it and yields two matched graphs with a minimum global transformation error. In order to eliminate dubious matches, a filtering strategy is designed. The strategy integrates two-way spatial order constraints and two decision criteria restrictions, i.e., the stability and accuracy of transformation error. Twenty-nine pairs of optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) aerial images are utilized to evaluate the performance. Compared with RANdom SAmple Consensus (RANSAC), Graph Transformation Matching (GTM), and Spatial Order Constraints (SOC), RSOC obtained the highest precision and stability.

[1]  Li Li,et al.  A two-stage registration algorithm for oil spill aerial image by invariants-based similarity and improved ICP , 2011 .

[2]  Wen-Yen Wu,et al.  Two-dimensional object recognition through two-stage string matching , 1999, IEEE Trans. Image Process..

[3]  M. Maes,et al.  On a Cyclic String-To-String Correction Problem , 1990, Inf. Process. Lett..

[4]  Y. Bentoutou,et al.  Feature Based Registration of Satellite Images , 2007, 2007 15th International Conference on Digital Signal Processing.

[5]  Siamak Khorram,et al.  A feature-based image registration algorithm using improved chain-code representation combined with invariant moments , 1999, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[6]  Liang Cheng,et al.  Robust Affine Invariant Feature Extraction for Image Matching , 2008, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters.

[7]  Andriy Myronenko,et al.  Point Set Registration: Coherent Point Drift , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence.

[8]  Marko Heikkilä,et al.  Description of interest regions with local binary patterns , 2009, Pattern Recognit..

[9]  Anand Rangarajan,et al.  A new point matching algorithm for non-rigid registration , 2003, Comput. Vis. Image Underst..

[10]  Yan Ke,et al.  PCA-SIFT: a more distinctive representation for local image descriptors , 2004, Proceedings of the 2004 IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, 2004. CVPR 2004..

[11]  Y. Bentoutou,et al.  Automatic extraction of control points for digital subtraction angiography image enhancement , 2003, 2003 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium. Conference Record (IEEE Cat. No.03CH37515).

[12]  Alexander J. Smola,et al.  Learning Graph Matching , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence.

[13]  Cordelia Schmid,et al.  A performance evaluation of local descriptors , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence.

[14]  Gong-Jian Wen,et al.  A High-Performance Feature-Matching Method for Image Registration by Combining Spatial and Similarity Information , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[15]  Kidiyo Kpalma,et al.  An automatic image registration for applications in remote sensing , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[16]  Jan Flusser,et al.  Image registration methods: a survey , 2003, Image Vis. Comput..

[17]  Robert C. Bolles,et al.  Random sample consensus: a paradigm for model fitting with applications to image analysis and automated cartography , 1981, CACM.

[18]  Y. Bentoutou,et al.  A Feature-Based Approach to Automated Registration of Remotely Sensed Images , 2006, 2006 2nd International Conference on Information & Communication Technologies.

[19]  Yun Zhang,et al.  A Novel Interest-Point-Matching Algorithm for High-Resolution Satellite Images , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[20]  G LoweDavid,et al.  Distinctive Image Features from Scale-Invariant Keypoints , 2004 .

[21]  David A. Clausi,et al.  ARRSI: Automatic Registration of Remote-Sensing Images , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[22]  Arturo Espinosa-Romero,et al.  A robust Graph Transformation Matching for non-rigid registration , 2009, Image Vis. Comput..

[23]  Taejung Kim,et al.  Automatic satellite image registration by combination of matching and random sample consensus , 2003, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[24]  Paul J. Besl,et al.  A Method for Registration of 3-D Shapes , 1992, IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell..

[25]  Maurice Maes,et al.  Polygonal shape recognition using string-matching techniques , 1991, Pattern Recognit..

[26]  Jan Flusser,et al.  Degraded Image Analysis: An Invariant Approach , 1998, IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell..

[27]  Gertjan J. Burghouts,et al.  Performance evaluation of local colour invariants , 2009, Comput. Vis. Image Underst..

[28]  Edwin R. Hancock,et al.  Structural Graph Matching Using the EM Algorithm and Singular Value Decomposition , 2001, IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell..

[29]  P. Agathoklis,et al.  A Robust, Feature-based Algorithm for Aerial Image Registration , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics.

[30]  Jianglin Ma,et al.  Fully Automatic Subpixel Image Registration of Multiangle CHRIS/Proba Data , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[31]  A. Ardeshir Goshtasby,et al.  Precision Registration and Mosaicking of Multicamera Images , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[32]  Takeo Kanade,et al.  Object detection using 2D spatial ordering constraints , 2005, 2005 IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR'05).

[33]  David S. Doermann,et al.  Robust point matching for nonrigid shapes by preserving local neighborhood structures , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence.

[34]  Laurence C. Smith,et al.  Automated Image Registration Based on Pseudoinvariant Metrics of Dynamic Land-Surface Features , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.