Automated 2-D building footprint extraction from high-resolution satellite multispectral imagery

A fully automated algorithm for the extraction of building footprints from commercial high-resolution satellite imagery is presented. The algorithm is based on identifying buildings and their shadows in the differential morphological profile (DMP) of 1-m resolution panchromatic imagery. The DMP is a multi-scale image analysis technique where an image profile is constructed through the use of morphological opening and closing operations while varying the size of the structuring element. A variety of shape-based features are utilized to extract buildings and their shadows from the DMP. The algorithm has been tested on an IKONOS image, and the results are promising.