Algorithms such as the narrow-band algorithm [9], fast marching algorithm [10] and the two-cycle fast algorithm [11] have been developed to make this process more efficient.Based upon our previous work using a level set for image segmentation [7], this paper proposes a more efficient, three-component based level set algorithm for noisy SAR image segmentation. Firstly, it operates in a grid domain, which updates the adjoining pixels around the zero level set, and only the boundary and neighboring pixels in the propagation direction are considered in the computation process. Next, a single list is selected to track the interface’s properties by keeping pace with the propagation boundary to shorten time complexity. At last, the complicated partial differential equations are simplified into a local up-wind scheme to reduce numerical computation time.

Moreover, an intensity model and a curvature model are applied for noise removal and simultaneous trouble-free extraction of surface slicks. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, experiments were conducted on extracting surface slick features from ERS-2 SAR ocean images. In addition the proposed techniques were evaluated against other level set methods such as fast marching, and the results confirmed the efficiency gains of the proposed method.2.?Background of Level Set2.1. Level set methodLevel set is an efficient numerical technique for interface propagation. A brief introduction of this method is given here. The detailed explanation can be found in Sethian (1999)[10].

In the level set method, a scalar Lipschitz function, ?(x, t) (also known as level set function), defines the embedding of an n-dimensional Drug_discovery surface in an Rn+1 space surface, where x Rn+1, and t = time t (Figure 1). The set of points on the surface, S, are mapped by ? such that:S=x�O?(x,t)=k(1)where k is an arbitrary scalar value, namely S is the k level set of ?.Figure 1.Illustration of level sets.The essential idea of the level set is to represent the moving front ?? as the zero level set of the time-dependent level set function ? (x, t = 0) = 0.Moreover, the level set is supposed to be topology free, since different topologies of the zero level set do not imply the different topologies of a level set ?.

In accordance with the propagation of the front, the first order partial differential equation (PDE) of the level set is represented as:???t=F|??|(2)where F is a scalar function that defines the speed in the outward direction normal to ?, |?| represents some appropriate finite different operators for the spatial derivative, and ?t the time step.The speed term in which the front propagates is defined by the function F:F=Fprop+Fcurv+Fadv(3)where Fprop is the propagation expansion speed, Fcurv = ?�� is the dependence of speed on the curvature, and Fadv is the advection speed.