Image Compression Algorithm Based on Region of Interest Extraction for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Communication

The flexibility and maneuverability of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have led to their widespread use, but the challenge of limited storage space and bandwidth in emergency scenarios necessitates efficient image compression techniques. In this research, we propose an image compression algorithm tailored for UAV communication, termed ROIE-UC (Region of Interest Extraction for UAV Communication). Firstly, image pixels are clustered into super pixel blocks using the Simple Linear Iterative Clustering (SLIC). Secondly, these super pixels are grouped into regions of interest (ROI) using the Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN). The image is then segmented into ROI and non-ROI areas based on these clusters. Lossless compression is applied to the ROI, while lossy compression with a high ratio is used for non-ROI regions. At the receiving end, the image is decompressed and reconstructed. Experimental results show that the ROIE-UC achieves a Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) of 46.37 dB and a Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) of 99.94% for the ROI part, with compression ratios of 27, 25, and 14 for the whole image. Compared to the JPEG, PSNR improved by up to 28.52% and SSIM by 1.51%, with a compression ratio increase from 14.52 to 27.56. The ROIE-UC also provides up to a 49.44% increase in PSNR over other methods. These results demonstrate that ROIE-UC is an efficient and effective solution for image processing and data compression in UAV applications.