Final Program

Dr. James C. Tilton, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA

Title: Object-based image analysis utilizing image segmentation hierarchies

Abstract: Currently available pixel-based analysis techniques do not effectively extract the information content from the increasingly available high spatial resolution remotely sensed imagery data. A general consensus is that object-based image analysis (OBIA) is required to effectively analyze this type of data. OBIA is usually a two-stage process; image segmentation followed by an analysis of the segmented objects. We are exploring approaches to OBIA based on the analysis of hierarchical image segmentations provided by the Recursive Hierarchical Segmentation (RHSEG) software developed at NASA GSFC. We will briefly describe the application of OBIA techniques to snow and ice mapping, archaeological site identification and lunar and planetary rover path planning. We then discuss a general OBIA approach in which RHSEG produced image segmentation hierarchies are analyzed by the Subdue graph-based knowledge-discovery system developed by a team at Washington State University. We describe our initial approach to representing the RHSEG-produced hierarchical image segmentations in a graphical form understandable by Subdue, and provide results on real and simulated data. We also discuss planned improvements designed to more effectively and completely convey the hierarchical segmentation information to Subdue and to improve processing efficiency.

(Joint work with Diane J. Cook and Nikhil Ketkar, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA, Selim Aksoy, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey)

Biography: James C. Tilton received B.A. degrees in electronic engineering, environmental science and engineering, and anthropology and a M. E. E. (electrical engineering) from Rice University, Houston, TX in 1976. He also received an M. S. in optical sciences from the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ in 1978 and a Ph. D. in electrical engineering from Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN in 1981.

He is currently a Computer Engineer with the Computational and Information Science and Technology Office (CISTO) of the Science and Exploration Directorate at the Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, Greenbelt, MD. He previously worked for Computer Sciences Corporation from 1982 to 1983 and Science Applications Research from 1983 to 1985 on contracts with NASA Goddard. As a member of the CISTO, Dr. Tilton is responsible for designing and developing computer software tools for space and earth science image analysis, and encouraging the use of these computer tools through interactions with space and earth scientists. His development of a recursive hierarchical segmentation algorithm has resulted in on patent and two other patent applications. Dr. Tilton is a senior member of the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Xi. From 1992 through 1996, he served as a member of the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Administrative Committee. Since 1996 he has served as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.