Rural Road Extraction using Object Based Image Analysis (OBIA): A case study from Assam, India

Abstract. Rural roads in India have been considered as significant component for overall rural development. In India, the status of rural road connectivity is not up to the mark in some of the states. For providing better connectivity in the rural areas the information on roads are considered important. Detailed mapping of the roads can be useful for planning further road connectivity and proving access to facilities in the rural areas. For detailed mapping of roads higher resolution satellite imageries are required. Object based Image Analysis (OBIA) has emerged as a promising map analysis approach using high and very high resolution imageries. Feature extraction is one of the important aspect in OBIA extracting features such as roads, buildings, water bodies and other important features of interest from the high resolution imageries. In the present study, an attempt has been made to extract rural roads of Titabor in Jorhat district of Assam (India). Various OBIA based extraction methods have been used for extracting roads using high & very high resolution Resourcesat-II (5.8 m) and Kompsat imagery (2.8 m MS & 0.7 m PAN). The results have been compared and relative advantages were evaluated.