Phase fields for network extraction from images
Aymen El Ghoul · 2010
This thesis describes the construction of an undirected network (e.g. road network) model, based on the recently developed higher-order active contours (HOACs) and phase fields, and introduces a new family of phase field HOACs for directed networks (e.g. hydrographic networks in remote sensing imagery, vascular networks in medical imagery). In the first part of this thesis, we focus on the stability analysis of a HOAC energy leading to a ‘phase diagram'. The results, which are confirmed by numerical experiments, enable the selection of parameter values for the modelling of undirected networks. Hydrographic networks, unlike road networks, are directed, i.e. they carry a unidirectional flow in each branch. This leads to specific geometric properties of the branches and particularly of the junctions, that it is useful to capture in a model, for network extraction purposes. We thus develop a nonlocal phase field model of directed networks, which, in addition to a scalar field representing a region by its smoothed characteristic function, and interacting nonlocally so as to favour network configurations, contains a vector field representing the ‘flow' through the network branches. The vector field is strongly encouraged to be zero outside, and of unit magnitude inside the network; and to have zero divergence. This prolongs network branches; controls width variation along a branch; and produces asymmetric junctions for which total incoming branch width approximately equals total outgoing branch width. In conjunction with a new interaction function for the scalar field, it also allows a broad range of stable branch widths. The new proposed model is applied to the problem of hydrographic network extraction from VHR satellite images, and it outperforms the undirected network model.