Segmentation of SAR images using improved artificial bee colony algorithm and neutrosophic set

• We propose a new hybrid model for segmentation of SAR images.
• Neutrosophic set captures the textural information of SAR image more precisely.
• The proposed method can segment the SAR images containing speckle noise.
• I-ABC algorithm is used for the optimization of objective function.

This paper proposes a novel synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image segmentation algorithm based on the neutrosophic set (NS) and improved artificial bee colony (I-ABC) algorithm. In this algorithm, threshold value estimation is considered as a search procedure that searches for a proper value in a grayscale interval. Therefore, I-ABC optimization algorithm is presented to search for the optimal threshold value. In order to get an efficient and powerful fitness function for I-ABC algorithm, the input SAR image is transformed into the NS domain. Then, a neutrosophic T and I subset images are obtained. A co-occurrence matrix based on the neutrosophic T and I subset images is constructed, and two-dimensional gray entropy function is described to serve as the fitness function of I-ABC algorithm. Finally, the optimal threshold value is quickly explored by the employed, onlookers and scouts bees in I-ABC algorithm. This paper contributes to SAR image segmentation in two aspects: (1) a hybrid model, having two different feature extraction methods, is proposed. (2) An optimal threshold value is automatically selected by maximizing the separability of the classes in gray level image by incorporating a simple and fast search strategy. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated by application to real SAR images.

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