Classification of hyperspectral data from urban areas based on extended morphological profiles

Classification of hyperspectral data with high spatial resolution from urban areas is investigated. A method based on mathematical morphology for preprocessing of the hyperspectral data is proposed. In this approach, opening and closing morphological transforms are used in order to isolate bright (opening) and dark (closing) structures in images, where bright/dark means brighter/darker than the surrounding features in the images. A morphological profile is constructed based on the repeated use of openings and closings with a structuring element of increasing size, starting with one original image. In order to apply the morphological approach to hyperspectral data, principal components of the hyperspectral imagery are computed. The most significant principal components are used as base images for an extended morphological profile, i.e., a profile based on more than one original image. In experiments, two hyperspectral urban datasets are classified. The proposed method is used as a preprocessing method for a neural network classifier and compared to more conventional classification methods with different types of statistical computations and feature extraction. Index Terms--Hyperspectral remote sensing data, morphological profiles, neural networks, principal components.