A modified fuzzy C-means algorithm in remote sensing image segmentation

Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) algorithm has good clustering efficiency, for which it is widely used in the field of image segmentation. However, problems such as weak robustness of distance measure, the number of initial clustering to be given in advance and not considering local image feature still exist. In essence, FCM is a local search algorithm. Improper selection of initial value will lead to the need for more iterations and convergence to local optimal solution. By combining evolving clustering (ECM) with FCM algorithm, a new method of remote sensing image segmentation is put forward. By using FCM algorithm to solve the choice of ECM's initialization clustering centers and using FCM to optimize the obtained centers, fuzzy clustering is completed. And by converting fuzzy into a certainty classification, clustering segmentation is realized. The algorithm is typical of relatively less iterations of convergence to global optimum, good stability and robustness. Experiment results show that it helps to produce better segmentation effect and improve the efficiency of remote sensing image segmentation. © 2009 IEEE.