Object-Oriented Shadow Detection and Removal From Urban High-Resolution Remote Sensing Images

In accordance with the characteristics of urban high-resolution color remote sensing images, we put forward an object-oriented shadow detection and removal method. In this method, shadow features are taken into consideration during image segmentation, and then, according to the statistical features of the images, suspected shadows are extracted. Furthermore, some dark objects which could be mistaken for shadows are ruled out according to object properties and spatial relationship between objects. For shadow removal, inner-outer outline profile line (IOOPL) matching is used. First, the IOOPLs are obtained with respect to the boundary lines of shadows. Shadow removal is then performed according to the homogeneous sections attained through IOOPL similarity matching. Experiments show that the new method can accurately detect shadows from urban high-resolution remote sensing images and can effectively restore shadows with a rate of over 85%.