Decomposition-Feature-Iterative-Clustering-Based Superpixel Segmentation for PolSAR Image Classification

Compared with traditional pixel-based polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) image classification methods, superpixel-based methods take advantages of the spatial information of pixels, so they can overcome the influence of speckle noise on the classification result. Since traditional superpixel methods do not utilize the scattering characteristics of a PolSAR image, the boundaries of the superpixels are poorly preserved. The inaccuracy of superpixel segmentation boundaries has a negative impact on the subsequent classification. In this letter, we propose a decomposition-feature-iterative-clustering (DFIC) superpixel segmentation method for PolSAR images. The DFIC method innovatively introduces the decomposition features in generating superpixels, so the superpixel segmentation boundaries are well preserved. Because we selectively utilize superpixel information to classify the PolSAR images by setting a threshold, the effect of superpixel segmentation inaccuracy on the classification results is reduced. Experiments on two real PolSAR images demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms several state-of-the-art superpixel methods, and that the DFIC superpixel-based classification obtains better results than the other pixel-based methods.