Extraction of auroral oval boundaries from UVI images: A new FLICM clustering-based method and its evaluation

WANG Qian; MENG QingHu; HU ZeJun; XING ZanYang; LIANG JiMin; & HU HongQiao

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1085.2011.00184

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RESEARCH-ARTICLE

Extraction of auroral oval boundaries from UVI images: A new FLICM clustering-based method and its evaluation

WANG Qian1, MENG QingHu1, HU ZeJun Correspondence author

, 2, XING ZanYang2, 3, LIANG JiMin Correspondence author

, 1, & HU HongQiao2

Correspondence: huzejun@pric.gov.cn jimleung@mail.xidian.edu.cn ORCID:

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Vol. 22, Issue 3, pp. 184-191 (2011) • DOI

First published at: Jan 25, 2011

Abstract

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Abstract

Based on the fuzzy local information c-means (FLICM) clustering algorithm, a new method is developed for extracting the equatorward and poleward boundaries of the auroral oval from images acquired by the Ultraviolet Imager (UVI) aboard the POLAR satellite. First, the method iteratively segments the UVI image with the FLICM clustering algorithm, according to an integrity criterion for the segmented auroral oval. Then, possible gaps in the extracted auroral oval are filled, based on prior knowledge of its shape. To evaluate the method objectively, the extracted boundaries are compared with the precipitating electron boundaries determined from DMSP satellite precipitation particle data. The evaluation results demonstrate that the proposed method generates more accurate auroral boundaries than traditional methods.

Keywords

Auroral boundary; UVI; image segmentation; evaluation; Auroral boundary; UVI; image segmentation; evaluation

Author Address:

1. School of Life Sciences and Technology, Xidian University, Xi’an 710071, China;
2. SOA Key Laboratory for Polar Science, Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai 200136, China;
3. School of Science, Xidian University, Xi’an 710071, China

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