A New Edge Detection Method for Oil Slick Infrared Aerial Image

Edge detection technology of oil spills image on the sea is one of most key technologies to monitor oil spills on the sea. This paper presents a new method to detect continuous and closed edges of oil slick infrared (IR) aerial images on the sea. The method is composed of two stages: determination of edge points and edge linking. Non-maximal suppression and self-adaptive dynamic block threshold (SADBT) algorithm are applied to determine edge points. Then an improved edge linking algorithm is used for linking discrete edge points into closed edge contours, according to a cost function of the combination of Euclidean distance, intensity and angle information of edge ending points to improve the edge linking decision. Using the proposed algorithm, we can gain continuous and closed edges of oil slick IR aerial images, thereby confirming the location and acreage of oil spill. The experiment results have shown that the proposed method improves the degree of automation of edge detection, suppresses the striping noise, intensity inhomogeneity and weak edge boundaries effectively.