An eigen-index technique for content-based retrieval of satellite image databases

In the study, we present a novel indexing technique for the retrieval of satellite image databases. The approach partitions the original image into some eigen-regions according to local terrain characteristics. And index for each eigen-region, called eigen-index, is extracted by the principal eigenvector of region. Using the eigen-index separation between the specified cover type of query image and that of each object image in the database, the access of archive could be facilitated. To show the performance of the proposed approach, a PHP-based interface agent using the eigen-index for content-based access to a test archive of SPOT images is available over the internet [http://dsp.mmd.ntou.edu.tw]. Through this agent, a user can browse ten best-matched candidates for each query.