| Title | A new histogram quantization algorithm for land cover mapping |
| Download | Downloads (Preprint) |
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| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | Cihlar, J; Okouneva, G; Beaubien, J; Latifovic, R |
| Source | International Journal of Remote Sensing vol. 22, issue 11, 2001 p. 2151-2169, https://doi.org/10.1080/014311601300190659 |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2001 |
| Alt Series | Earth Sciences Sector, Contribution Series 20042521 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf |
| Subjects | geophysics; remote sensing; flexible histogram quantization (FHQ) |
| Illustrations | graphs; diagrams |
| Released | 2001 07 10 |
| Abstract | Land cover classification from multispectral satellite data is based primarily on spectral differences in land cover categories. Since only a limited number of cover types are desired in most cases, the
images contain redundant information which unnecessarily complicates the digital classification process. In this study, we have devised an algorithm to automatically and reproducibly quantize an image to be classified into a reduced number of digital
levels, in most cases without a visually perceptible reduction in the image information content. The Flexible Histogram Quantization (FHQ) algorithm assumes that the histogram has one or two major peaks (representing water and/or land) and that most
of the information of interest is in one peak. It aims to provide a sufficient quantization in the main peak of interest as well as in the tails of this peak by computing an optimized number of quantized levels ant then identifying the range of
digital values belonging to each level. A comparison of the FHQ with four existing quantization algorithms showed that the quantization, and scaling methods. Using a random sample of Landsat TM images and an AVHRR coverage of Canada, the average
quantization error for the FHQ was 1.68 digital levels for an entire scene and 1.41 for land pixels only. Based on the 34 single-band test images included in the factor of 10.94n for a multispectral image with n spectral bands. Compared to the other
quantization methods, FHQ had a higher efficiency (by 65% to 148%), except for histogram equalization. FHQ also retained more information than histogram equalization (by 11%) but more importantly, it provided finer resolution in the tails of the main
histogram peak (by 36-664%, depending on the position in the tails) for infrequent but potentially important land cover types. In addition, unlike the other methods the FHQ does not require a user-specified number of levels and therefore its results
are fully reproducible. The FHQ can be used with single scenes, with radiometrically seamless mosaics, or when classifying radiometrically incompatible adjacent scenes. It is concluded that the FHQ provides an effective means for image quantization,
as an automated pre-processing step in land cover mapping applications. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 219323 |
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