Using the Canny edge detector for feature extraction and enhancement of remote sensing images

Edges are important features in an image since they represent significant local intensity changes. They provide important clues to separate regions within an object or to identify changes in illumination. Most remote sensing applications, such as image registration, image segmentation, region separation, object description, and recognition, use edge detection as a preprocessing stage for feature extraction. Real images, such as remote sensing images, can be corrupted with point noise. The real problem is how to enhance noisy remote sensing images and simultaneously extract the edges. Using the implemented Canny edge detector for feature extraction and as an enhancement tool for remote sensing images, the result was robust with a very high enhancement level.