Metric Based on Morphological Dilation for the Detection of Spatially Significant Zones

The ability to derive spatially significant zones (e.g., water bodies and zones of influence) within a cluster of zones has interesting applications in understanding commonly sharing physical mechanisms. Using a morphological dilation distance technique, we introduce geometric-based criteria that serve as indicator of the spatial significance of zones within a cluster of zones. This letter focuses on the problem of identifying zones that are “strategic” in the sense that they are the most central or important based on their proximity to other zones. We have applied this technique to a task aiming at detecting a spatially significant water body from a cluster of water bodies retrieved from Indian Remote Sensing Satellite Linear Imaging Self-scanning Sensor (IRS LISS-III) multispectral satellite data.