There is disclosed herein, a method used to associate or correspond
synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and forward looking infrared (FLIR) images.
Based on feature points detectable from both images, a two stage approach
is taken to address the issue of SAR and FLIR image registration: an
initial registration stage where feature points detected from the FLIR
image are transformed into the SAR image coordinates; and a residual
registration stage where the SAR and FLIR feature points undergo a
"Generalized Hough Transform" from which a maximal subset of matching
feature points is obtained and the registration transformation can be
derived. These two stages are separated into five steps which comprise the
SAR and FLIR Image Registration Method: (1) extracting feature points from
said SAR and FLIR images; (2) creating an initial registration of the FLIR
image; (3) creating a two-dimensional residual registration utilizing a
generalized Hough transform; (4) estimating the registration
transformation; and, (5) verifying the registration. This method allows
the residual registration to be done in a two-dimensional (rather than
six) Hough transform, which results in fast and robust implementation as
well as reduce the possibility of false registration.
