Aircraft type recognition in satellite images

This paper proposes a hierarchical classification algorithm to accurately recognise aircraft in satellite images. Before recognition, a novel symmetry-based algorithm is proposed to estimate an aircraft´s optimal orientation for rotation correction. Then, distinguishable features are derived from each aircraft for aircraft recognition. However, different features have different discrimination abilities to recognise the types of aircraft. Therefore, a novel booting algorithm is proposed to learn a set of proper weights from training samples for feature integration. Owing to this integration, significant improvements in terms of recognition accuracy and robustness can be achieved. Last, a hierarchical recognition scheme is proposed to recognise the types of aircraft by using the area feature, first for a rough categorisation on which detailed classifications are then achieved using several suggested features. Experiments were conducted on a wide variety of satellite images. Experimental results reveal the feasibility and validity of the proposed approach in recognising aircraft in satellite images.