Boundary simplification using a multiscale dominant-point detection algorithm

In this paper we intend to characterize boundaries using the Scale-space theory. The aim we try to achieve is the description of a boundary in relation to a subset of points-dominant points-that are obtained From a new multiscale representation of the boundary. Dominant points are characterized by a high curvature value (in the original or smoothed boundary). As a result, the boundary is represented using those points as well as an appropriate interpolation method (the linear one in the simplest case) among them. As the basic tool of our work we will introduce a new multiscale dominant point detection algorithm that detects the points at their natural scales through a reliability condition with respect to the original curve. Because we want to apply the algorithms on complex enough boundaries, we use cartographic boundaries (in which several structures can be obtained at different scales) to evaluate the results. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd on behalf of the Pattern Recognition Society. All rights reserved.