Morphological component analysis for feature detection in satellite images

Abstract

A new approach to cluster analysis is proposed, namely morphological component analysis (MCA), to enhance discrimination of features in multi-channel satellite images. The characterization of clusters, in this method, is morphological, unlike some of the classical cluster approaches in which the clusters are defined by their centers. By using the shape and orientation of the clusters, it is possible to define an affine transformation of the cluster space into a new one in which the selected clusters are orthogonal or better separated. Such an operation can be considered as supervised independent component analysis.