ABSTRACT
The procedures described in this chapter differ from the previous ones substantially: they provide, as their results, a
description
of the input image rather than a processed image as such. We shall begin with the analytic methods that are determining local properties of the image or spatially limited relations between these local properties, as used in characterizing textures. Subsequently, segmentation approaches will be presented that allow dividing the image area into meaningful parts as required by a particular purpose of imaging. Finally, as a part of this chapter, we shall introduce the strongly nonlinear morphological operators that belong to both image processing and analysis; however, they may significantly contribute to image examination and recognition (e.g., by thinning, connecting or disconnecting objects, or providing their structural description) and are thus usually considered analytic methods.
