Infrared Small Target Detection Based on Weighted Local Coefficient of Variation Measure

Abstract

Robust infrared (IR) small target detection is critical for infrared search and track (IRST) systems and is a challenging task for complicated backgrounds. Current algorithms have poor performance on complex backgrounds, and there is a high false alarm rate or even missed detection. To address this problem, a weighted local coefficient of variation (WLCV) is proposed for IR small target detection. This method consists of three stages. First, the preprocessing stage can enhance the original IR image and extract potential targets. Second, the detection stage consists of a background suppression module (BSM) and a local coefficient of variation (LCV) module. BSM uses a special three-layer window that combines the anisotropy of the target and differences in the grayscale distribution. LCV exploits the discrete statistical properties of the target grayscale. The weighted advantages of the two modules complement each other and greatly improve the effect of small target enhancement and background suppression. Finally, the weighted saliency map is subjected to adaptive threshold segmentation to extract the true target for detection. The experimental results show that the proposed method is more robust to different target sizes and background types than other methods and has a higher detection accuracy.

Infrared small target detection method based on full-direction dilation Gaussian filtering and local background estimation

“…In recent years, Human Visual System (HVS)-based methods have received keen academic attention for their unique value in capturing local differences between targets and backgrounds to obtain regions of visual saliency. Common methods include Multiscale Patch-based Contrast Measure (MPCM), Relative Local Contrast Measure (RLCM), Local Contrast Measure (LCM), and the more recently proposed infrared weak target detection method using Tri-layer Template Local Difference Measure (TTLDM) [3] . Nonetheless, the saliency information generated by local contrast, which forms the basis of HVS-based detection methods, is vulnerable to noise and high-brightness edges within backgrounds.…”