Polarimetric SAR image segmentation with B-splines and a new statistical model

We present an approach for polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image region boundary detection based on the use of B-Spline active contours and a new model for polarimetric SAR data: the $${\mathcal{G}_P^H}$$ distribution. In order to detect the boundary of a region, initial B-Spline curves are specified, either automatically or manually, and the proposed algorithm uses a deformable contours technique to find the boundary. In doing this, the parameters of the polarimetric $${\mathcal{G}_P^H}$$ model for the data are estimated, in order to find the transition points between the region being segmented and the surrounding area. This is a local algorithm since it works only on the region to be segmented. Results of its performance are presented.

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