An efficient algorithm for detection of road-like structures in satellite images

Road networks are important features of satellite imagery. The main contribution of the present road detection method consists of an effective enhancement technique and an efficient segmentation technique that removes non-road pixels step by step from the image where parameters involved: in each step images are determined by the sensor characteristics (like spatial resolution and spectral range) of the satellite. Also, the segmentation process depends not only on the road contrast but also on the road length. Thus, a low contrast but long road segment does not get removed. We have tested the algorithm on a number of images from IRS and SPOT satellites and the results are satisfactory