A fast segmentation scheme based on level set for SAR images

In this paper, we propose a modified segmentation algorithm based on level set for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. The segmentation of SAR images is a difficult problem due to the presence of speckle which can be modeled as strong, multiplicative noise. One main drawback of previous the SAR image segmentation algorithm based on active contour model and level set is the computational expense inherent to solving the proposed nonlinear parabolic partial differential equation. The proposed algorithm is faster than the previous SAR image segmentation via standard curve evolution model. Experimental results are shown on both synthetic and real SAR images.