Robust Edge Detection Based on Non-local Contribution of Local Frequency Characteristics

This paper introduces a robust approach to the problem of edge detection in situations characterized by high levels of image degradation and illumination non-uniformity. Popular edge detection methods are dependent solely on local image characteristics to localize edge information. In the proposed algorithm, we demonstrate that superior edge detection performance can be achieved by utilizing nonlocal image characteristics. This is accomplished by estimating the edge strength of a given pixel based on the local frequency characteristics of every pixel within an image. The proposed method is highly robust to scenarios characterized by illumination non-uniformity and low signal-to-noise ratios. Experimental results show that using the proposed method, edge detection can be qualitatively improved over existing methods on a small set of test images.