Change detection from remotely sensed images: From pixel-based to object-based approaches

• Published in: ISPRS journal of photogrammetry and remote sensing Vol. 80; pp. 91 - 106
• Main Authors: Hussain, Masroor, Chen, Dongmei, Cheng, Angela, Wei, Hui, Stanley, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.06.2013; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; appetite; Applied geophysics; Biological and medical sciences; Change detection; Data mining; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Environmental monitoring; Environmental studies; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects. Techniques; image analysis; Image detection; Internal geophysics; land cover; land use change; monitoring; Object-based; Pixel-based; Remote sensing; Satellites; spatial data; Spatial-data-mining; Spectra; Teledetection and vegetation maps; Spatial-data-mining; Pixel-based; Change detection; Remote sensing; Object-based; satellites; image processing; detection; focus; resources; remote sensing; global; Data mining; Image; Earth; land use; Plant cover; statistical analysis; land cover; Pixel; high resolution; statistics
• ISSN: 0924-2716; 1872-8235
• DOI: 10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2013.03.006

The appetite for up-to-date information about earth’s surface is ever increasing, as such information provides a base for a large number of applications, including local, regional and global resources monitoring, land-cover and land-use change monitoring, and environmental studies. The data from remote sensing satellites provide opportunities to acquire information about land at varying resolutions and has been widely used for change detection studies. A large number of change detection methodologies and techniques, utilizing remotely sensed data, have been developed, and newer techniques are still emerging. This paper begins with a discussion of the traditionally pixel-based and (mostly) statistics-oriented change detection techniques which focus mainly on the spectral values and mostly ignore the spatial context. This is succeeded by a review of object-based change detection techniques. Finally there is a brief discussion of spatial data mining techniques in image processing and change detection from remote sensing data. The merits and issues of different techniques are compared. The importance of the exponential increase in the image data volume and multiple sensors and associated challenges on the development of change detection techniques are highlighted. With the wide use of very-high-resolution (VHR) remotely sensed images, object-based methods and data mining techniques may have more potential in change detection.