A Multilevel Parcel-Based Approach to Change Detection in Very High Resolution Multitemporal Images

Abstract

This letter presents a novel parcel-based context-sensitive technique for unsupervised change detection in very high geometrical resolution images. In order to improve pixel-based change-detection performance, we propose to exploit the spatial-context information in the framework of a multilevel approach. The proposed technique models the scene (and hence changes) at different resolution levels defining multitemporal and multilevel ldquoparcelsrdquo (i.e., small homogeneous regions shared by both original images). Change detection is achieved by applying a multilevel change vector analysis to each pixel of the considered images. This technique properly analyzes the multilevel and multitemporal parcel-based context information of the considered spatial position. The adaptive nature of multitemporal parcels and their multilevel representation allow one a proper modeling of complex objects in the investigated scene as well as borders and details of the changed areas. Experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach.