An Efficient Algorithm for Satellite Images Fusion Based on Contourlet Transform

This paper proposes a new fusion method for multiespectral (MULTI) and panchromatic (PAN) images that uses a highly anisotropic and redundant representation of images. This methodology join the simplicity of the Wavelet transform, calculated using the à trous algorithm, with the benefits of multidirectional transforms like Contourlet Transform. That has permitted an adequate extraction of information from the source images, in order to obtain fused images with high spatial and spectral quality simultaneously. The new method has been implemented through a directional low pass filter bank with low computational complexity. The source images correspond to those captured by the IKONOS satellite (panchromatic and multispectral). The influence of the filter bank parameters in the global quality of the fused images has been investigated. The results obtained indicate that the proposed methodology provides an objective control of the spatial and spectral quality trade-off of the fused images by the determination of an appropriate set of filter bank parameters.