Application of image technology on pavement distress detection: A review

Abstract Digital image processing technology has been widely applied in various fields, and it is also increasingly used in pavement distress detection in recent years. The objective of this review article is to help researchers to select the most appropriate digital image processing technology (image acquisition equipment, processing, recognition technology and etc.) to study the pavement distress detection. Firstly, a proper application of the current image acquisition equipment is presented, and the advantages and disadvantages are compared. Secondly, the problems encountered in the practical application of image processing technology in pavement detection are presented. Further, the problems need to be solved in the future research are suggested, including cracks detection, pavement texture detection, temperature segregation detection, rutting detection, pothole detection, and joint faulting detection. In conclusion, the state of the art in pavement detection by digital image processing technology is summarized and proves that the digital image processing technology has become a promising method for pavement detection and materials analysis.