Estimating building dimensions from synthetic aperture radar image sequences

The problem of automatically extracting building dimensions from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image sequences of urban scenes is considered. An algorithm based on the delineation of shadows using active contours constrained by a simple wire-frame building model has been developed and demonstrated using SAR imagery of a village on Salisbury plain. The core of the algorithm is a novel technique for target delineation involving multiple active contours evolving simultaneously. In particular, a technique referred to as multiple hypothesis delineation, in which contours can be in several states simultaneously, is developed and shown to lead to considerable improvement in convergence time and delineation accuracy when used to delineate multiple targets in close proximity. The technique is applied to the automatic estimation of building dimensions by delineation of shadows in a sequence of SAR images of an urban scene. The estimation of building dimensions is automatic; user interaction is limited identifying a building of interest and a region of background clutter close to the building. Results are presented for six different buildings, in each case two SAR images were used in the estimation process separated in illumination angle by either 28° or 90°. The estimates of building dimensions are compared with the actual building dimensions obtained from architectural drawings. The algorithm was found to perform robustly and provide reasonably accurate estimates of the building dimensions, typically within ∼10% of the true values.