A spectral image clustering algorithm based on ant colony optimization

Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is a computational method used for optimization problems. The ACO algorithm uses virtual ants to create candidate solutions that are represented by paths on a mathematical graph. We develop an algorithm using ACO that takes a multispectral image as in put and outputs a cluster map denoting a cluster label for each pixel. The algorithm does this through identification of a series of one dimensional manifolds on the spectral data cloud via the ACO approach, and then associates pixels to these paths based on their spectral similarity to the paths. We apply the algorithm to multispectral imagery to divide the pixels into clusters based on their representation by a low dimensional manifold estimated by the best fit "ant path" through the data cloud. We present results from application of the algorithm to a multispectral Worldview-2 image and show that it produces useful cluster maps.