A new search algorithm for feature selection in hyperspectral remote sensing images

A new suboptimal search strategy suitable for feature selection in very high-dimensional remote sensing images (e.g., those acquired by hyperspectral sensors) is proposed. Each solution of the feature selection problem is represented as a binary string that indicates which features are selected and which are disregarded. In turn, each binary string corresponds to a point of a multidimensional binary space. Given a criterion function to evaluate the effectiveness of a selected solution, the proposed strategy is based on the search for constrained local extremes of such a function in the above-defined binary space. In particular, two different algorithms are presented that explore the space of solutions in different ways. These algorithms are compared with the classical sequential forward selection and sequential forward floating selection suboptimal techniques, using hyperspectral remote sensing images (acquired by the airborne visible/infrared imaging spectrometer [AVIRIS] sensor) as a data set. Experimental results point out the effectiveness of both algorithms, which can be regarded as valid alternatives to classical methods, as they allow interesting tradeoffs between the qualities of selected feature subsets and computational cost.