Automatic Extraction Of Isocontours From Historical Maps.

Peter Bajcsy

7^th World Multiconference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics Proceedings (SCI 2003) Vol.4, p99-104, Orlando, Florida, July 27-30, 2003.

This paper addresses the problem of automated extraction of constant valued elevation curves (isocontours) from 2- dimensional (2D) images of historical maps. We present a new isocontour extraction method that can operate in a semi automatic or fully automatic mode. The novelty of the work is in developing an isocontour extraction technique for historical map analysis that is unique in the GIS application domain and applicable in web, object recognition and semiconductor defect analysis applications.

Three components of the presented extraction process are described including contour initialization, contour tracing and automatic extraction of all isocontours. An experimental comparison of the extraction results obtained using semi automatic and fully automatic modes of the algorithm is shown.

Keywords: Image Processing, Map Analysis, Isocontour Detection.