Extracting Streetlight Poles from Orthophotos: Methodology and Case Study in Ontario, Canada

Abstract

A method for extracting streetlight poles from orthophotos is presented. The main challenge of the research undertaken was to recognize streetlight poles which are narrow, vertical objects that have very limited width in the orthophotos. The proposed method was successful in extracting such poles by observing their shadows. The method is based on modifying the orthophotos using a sequence of image filters and a cross correlation operation to extract streetlight-pole locations and positions. The method was applied and validated using a road network in the Durham Region, Ont., Canada. The proposed method, which allows verification and enhancement of streetlight pole databases, should be of interest to highway agencies interested in simple and effective methods for road feature extraction.