Point processes for unsupervised line network extraction in remote sensing

This paper addresses the problem of unsupervised extraction of line networks (for example, road or hydrographic networks) from remotely sensed images. We model the target line network by an object process, where the objects correspond to interacting line segments. The prior model, called "quality candy," is designed to exploit as fully as possible the topological properties of the network under consideration, while the radiometric properties of the network are modeled using a data term based on statistical tests. Two techniques are used to compute this term: one is more accurate, the other more efficient. A calibration technique is used to choose the model parameters. Optimization is done via simulated annealing using a reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo (RJMCMC) algorithm. We accelerate convergence of the algorithm by using appropriate proposal kernels. The results obtained on satellite and aerial images are quantitatively evaluated with respect to manual extractions. A comparison with the results obtained using a previous model, called the "candy" model, shows the interest of adding quality coefficients with respect to interactions in the prior density. The relevance of using an offline computation of the data potential is shown, in particular, when a proposal kernel based on this computation is added in the RJMCMC algorithm.