Superpixel-based segmentation of remote sensing images through correlation clustering

Abstract

In this paper a new object-oriented segmentation method for high-resolution remote sensing images is proposed. To limit computational complexity, a preliminary superpixel representation of the image is obtained by means of a suitable watershed transform. Then, a region adjacency graph is associated with the superpixels, with edge weights accounting for region similarity/dissimilarity. The final segmentation is then obtained by means of a graph-cutting approach, following a correlation clustering formulation. The optimal cut can be obtained by solving a Integer Linear Programming (ILP) problem, whose complexity, however, grows rapidly with the image size. Much faster near-optimal solutions are obtained, here, with a greedy solution. Experiments on a real-world high-resolution remote sensing image prove the potential of the approach.