Fast Treetops Counting Using Mathematical Image Symmetry, Segmentation, and Fast k-Means Classification Algorithms

Eduardo Orbe-Trujillo,Miguel Pérez-Ramírez,Jose Luis Vazquez-Avila,Agustín Pérez-Ramírez,Carlos J Novillo

doi:10.3390/sym14030532

Abstract

Forests are important because they contribute to biodiversity, regulation of carbon dioxide, protection of hydrographic basins, wood production. This article presents a methodology for fast and effective counting of treetops using the mathematical symmetry of the grayscale image. For the treetop counting, the unsupervised k-means classification Algorithm was used with two groups or centroids: treetop and not-treetop. By using these groups and the mathematical symmetry of the image, a fast k-means classification Algorithm is generated. To solve the problem of treetop overlapping and perform a more accurate counting, the watershed Algorithm was used. This methodology has a mean treetop count accuracy of 98.3% with a confidence level of 99% in the interval (97.31, 99.7). Aerial images of the coniferous forest of Alcudia, Mallorca, Spain were used. Forests attenuate climatic changes originated by global warming. Drastic climatic changes cause catastrophes to humanity. This research would help the automatic, massive and recurring counting of treetops with the aim of obtaining forest inventories in order to take care of forests.

Highlights

The objective of this research is to present a methodology for fast and effective counting of treetops
This paper presents a methodology for fast treetop counting by using the mathematical symmetry of the image
The mathematical symmetry in grayscale images, the proposal to use only two centroids in the k-means Algorithm and the analysis of the images to be processed allowed us to reduce the computational complexity of the k-means Algorithm

Summary

Introduction

The objective of this research is to present a methodology for fast and effective counting of treetops. Counting treetops using fast Algorithms saves a lot of time, work and is very useful in forest inventories; they give us precise information on the mapping or location of trees and timber resources [1]. Forests mitigate climate change caused by global warming. Drastic climate changes can cause catastrophes for humanity and the planet’s ecosystem in general [2,3]. It is necessary to protect and take care of the forests. For better taking care of forests, it is necessary to have forests inventories [4–6]

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