Novel MSER-guided street extraction from satellite images

The paper presents a novel technique to segment and extract streets from satellite images. This technique utilizes, for the first time in the known literature, the Maximally Stable Extremal Regions (MSER) algorithm to robustly identify and segment streets from satellite images. The technique extracts dark MSERs and then classifies them based on multiple metrics such as the intensity of the pixels, the region stability, and the major-to-minor axes ratio. Testing results under multiple scenarios corroborate the accuracy of the proposed technique. The technique will allow fast and accurate implementation of a wide spectrum of applications such as in Global Positioning System (GPS) driving guidance.