Height estimation for buildings with complex contours in monocular satellite/airborne images based on fuzzy reasoning

This paper presents a novel height estimation method for buildings with complex rooftop contours in the presence of partial occlusions or interference by neighboring buildings in monocular satellite/aerial images. The proposed method employs fuzzy rules to estimate the most accurate heights even for buildings with partial occlusions using projected shadows of each building. The system utilizes the genetic algorithm for finding the best solution in a search space that is not limited to the traditional incremental height steps. The proposed method is independent of the acquisition method and can be used for both satellite and aerial imageries. Experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method with mean height error of 27 cm for satellite and 15 cm for aerial images.