Unsupervised Image Classification using Region-growing Segmentation based on CN-chain

A multistage hierarchical clustering technique, which is an unsupervised technique, was suggested in this paper for classifying large remotely-sensed imagery. The multistage algorithm consists of two stages. The 'local' segmentor of the first stage performs region-growing segmentation by employing the hierarchical clustering procedure of CN-chain with the restriction that pixels in a cluster must be spatially contiguous. The 'global' segmentor of the second stage, which has not spatial constraints for merging, clusters the segments resulting from the previous stage, using the conventional agglomerative approach. Using simulation data, the proposed method was compared with another hierarchical clustering technique based on 'mutual closest neighbor.' The experimental results show that the new approach proposed in this study considerably increases in computational efficiency for larger images with a low number of bands. The technique was then applied to classify the land-cover types using the remotely-sensed data acquired from the Korean peninsula.