Edge detection algorithms in intensity SAR images: Empirical comparison of performances and proposed improvements

Different edge-detection algorithms developed for high-speckle SAR images are evaluated and compared. Two evaluation criterions have been selected: (i) quality of the detected edges, specially considering false alarms, edge thickness and level of discontinuities on detected edges. (ii) computational efficiency. Some modifications on the best-performance algorithms regarding edge quality are proposed, at the expense of a certain computational load increase.