Geometric feature descriptor and dissimilarity-based registration of remotely sensed imagery.

Image registration of remotely sensed imagery is challenging, as complex deformations are common. Different deformations, such as affine and homogenous transformation, combined with multimodal data capturing can emerge in the data acquisition process. These effects, when combined, tend to compromise the performance of the currently available registration methods. A new image transform, known as geometric mean projection transform, is introduced in this work. As it is deformation invariant, it can be employed as a feature descriptor, whereby it analyzes the functions of all vertical and horizontal signals in local areas of the image. Moreover, an invariant feature correspondence method is proposed as a point matching algorithm, which incorporates new descriptor's dissimilarity metric. Considering the image as a signal, the proposed approach utilizes a square Eigenvector correlation (SEC) based on the Eigenvector properties. In our experiments on standard test images sourced from "Featurespace" and "IKONOS" datasets, the proposed method achieved higher average accuracy relative to that obtained from other state of the art image registration techniques. The accuracy of the proposed method was assessed using six standard evaluation metrics. Furthermore, statistical analyses, including t-test and Friedman test, demonstrate that the method developed as a part of this study is superior to the existing methods.

Invariant Feature Matching for Image Registration Application Based on New Dissimilarity of Spatial Features.

An invariant feature matching method is proposed as a spatially invariant feature matching approach. Deformation effects, such as affine and homography, change the local information within the image and can result in ambiguous local information pertaining to image points. New method based on dissimilarity values, which measures the dissimilarity of the features through the path based on Eigenvector properties, is proposed. Evidence shows that existing matching techniques using similarity metrics--such as normalized cross-correlation, squared sum of intensity differences and correlation coefficient--are insufficient for achieving adequate results under different image deformations. Thus, new descriptor's similarity metrics based on normalized Eigenvector correlation and signal directional differences, which are robust under local variation of the image information, are proposed to establish an efficient feature matching technique. The method proposed in this study measures the dissimilarity in the signal frequency along the path between two features. Moreover, these dissimilarity values are accumulated in a 2D dissimilarity space, allowing accurate corresponding features to be extracted based on the cumulative space using a voting strategy. This method can be used in image registration applications, as it overcomes the limitations of the existing approaches. The output results demonstrate that the proposed technique outperforms the other methods when evaluated using a standard dataset, in terms of precision-recall and corner correspondence.

Double Line Image Rotation.

This paper proposes a fast algorithm for rotating images while preserving their quality. The new approach rotates images based on vertical or horizontal lines in the original image and their rotated equation in the target image. The proposed method is a one-pass method that determines a based-line equation in the target image and extracts all corresponding pixels on the base-line. Floating-point multiplications are performed to calculate the base-line in the target image, and other line coordinates are calculated using integer addition or subtraction and logical justifications from the base-line pixel coordinates in the target image. To avoid a heterogeneous distance between rotated pixels in the target image, each line rotates to two adjacent lines. The proposed method yields good performance in terms of speed and quality according to the results of an analysis of the computation speed and accuracy.

A chaotic cryptosystem for images based on Henon and Arnold cat map.

The rapid evolution of imaging and communication technologies has transformed images into a widespread data type. Different types of data, such as personal medical information, official correspondence, or governmental and military documents, are saved and transmitted in the form of images over public networks. Hence, a fast and secure cryptosystem is needed for high-resolution images. In this paper, a novel encryption scheme is presented for securing images based on Arnold cat and Henon chaotic maps. The scheme uses Arnold cat map for bit- and pixel-level permutations on plain and secret images, while Henon map creates secret images and specific parameters for the permutations. Both the encryption and decryption processes are explained, formulated, and graphically presented. The results of security analysis of five different images demonstrate the strength of the proposed cryptosystem against statistical, brute force and differential attacks. The evaluated running time for both encryption and decryption processes guarantee that the cryptosystem can work effectively in real-time applications.

Contour-based corner detection and classification by using mean projection transform.

Image corner detection is a fundamental task in computer vision. Many applications require reliable detectors to accurately detect corner points, commonly achieved by using image contour information. The curvature definition is sensitive to local variation and edge aliasing, and available smoothing methods are not sufficient to address these problems properly. Hence, we propose Mean Projection Transform (MPT) as a corner classifier and parabolic fit approximation to form a robust detector. The first step is to extract corner candidates using MPT based on the integral properties of the local contours in both the horizontal and vertical directions. Then, an approximation of the parabolic fit is calculated to localize the candidate corner points. The proposed method presents fewer false-positive (FP) and false-negative (FN) points compared with recent standard corner detection techniques, especially in comparison with curvature scale space (CSS) methods. Moreover, a new evaluation metric, called accuracy of repeatability (AR), is introduced. AR combines repeatability and the localization error (Le) for finding the probability of correct detection in the target image. The output results exhibit better repeatability, localization, and AR for the detected points compared with the criteria in original and transformed images.