A Simple and Robust Feature Point Matching Algorithm Based on Restricted Spatial Order Constraints for Aerial Image Registration

Accurate point matching is a critical and challenging process in feature-based image registration. In this paper, a simple and robust feature point matching algorithm, called Restricted Spatial Order Constraints (RSOC), is proposed to remove outliers for registering aerial images with monotonous backgrounds, similar patterns, low overlapping areas, and large affine transformation. In RSOC, both local structure and global information are considered. Based on adjacent spatial order, an affine invariant descriptor is defined, and point matching is formulated as an optimization problem. A graph matching method is used to solve it and yields two matched graphs with a minimum global transformation error. In order to eliminate dubious matches, a filtering strategy is designed. The strategy integrates two-way spatial order constraints and two decision criteria restrictions, i.e., the stability and accuracy of transformation error. Twenty-nine pairs of optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) aerial images are utilized to evaluate the performance. Compared with RANdom SAmple Consensus (RANSAC), Graph Transformation Matching (GTM), and Spatial Order Constraints (SOC), RSOC obtained the highest precision and stability.