Infrared dim target detection technology based on background estimate

Accurate and fast detection of infrared (IR) dim target has very important meaning for infrared precise guidance, early warning, video surveillance, etc. In this paper, two new algorithms – background estimate and frame difference fusion method, and building background with neighborhood mean method are presented. The basic principles and the implementing procedure of these algorithms for target detection are described. Using these algorithms, the experiments on some real-life IR images are performed. The whole algorithm implementing processes and results are analyzed, and those algorithms for detection targets are evaluated from the two aspects of subjective view and objective view. The results prove that the proposed method has satisfying detection effectiveness and robustness. Meanwhile, it has high detection efficiency and can be used for real-time detection.     

基于联合变换相关的目标跟踪方法

成像跟踪制导中,相关跟踪技术占有重要的地位。基于联合变换相关的目标跟踪方法,使用图像序列的相邻两帧图像依次进行相关运算,提取相关结果中互相关峰的位置和相邻两帧图像时间间隔等信息,即可得到目标位置、方向和速度的变化情况。计算机仿真实验结果表明:该算法有效地解决了传统相关跟踪算法中存在累积误差和容易使目标漂移出其参考模板的问题,可以实现稳定跟踪。     

Effective and robust infrared small target detection with the fusion of polydirectional first order derivative images under facet model

The robust detection of IR small target acts as one of the key techniques in the infrared search and tracking system (IRSTS). This paper presents a new method of small-target detection which formulates the problem as the detection of Gaussian-like spot. Initially, the amendatory first-order directional derivative (AFODD) based on facet model is applied to get the polydirectional derivative IR images, and the direction information of targets is reserved in these images. Then, the AFODD images are fused together to ensure the robustness and effectiveness of target detection. At last, the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method is carried out to make targets in the fusion image more prominent, so that they can be extracted out by a simple threshold segmentation. Experiment results show that the presented method performs well even in the IR images with complex backgrounds.     

一种基于特征提取的相关跟踪算法

介绍了一种能稳定快速跟踪复杂背景下目标的算法,该算法在传统相关跟踪算法的基础上进行改进.当目标进入红外(电视)摄像机视场时,视频信号中包含有目标信息和背景信息,信号处理器先将此信号进行数字化处理,形成具有一定灰度等级的数字化图像阵列,然后采用边缘检测、阈值分割等算法对包含有目标信息的图像进行边缘处理,提取出具有特征的目...     

Track infrared point targets based on projection coefficient templates and non-linear correlation combined with Kalman prediction

For a long time, tracking IR point targets is a great challenge task. We propose a tracking framework based on template matching combined with Kalman prediction. Firstly, a novel template matching method for detecting infrared point targets is presented. Different from the classic template matching, the projection coefficients obtained from principal component analysis are used as templates and the non-linear correlation coefficient is used to measure the matching degree. The non-linear correlation can capture the higher-order statistics. So the detection performance is improved greatly. Secondly, a framework of tracking point targets, based on the proposed detection method and Kalman prediction, is developed. Kalman prediction reduces the searching region for the detection method and, in turn, the detection method provides the more precise measurement for Kalman prediction. They bring out the best in each other. Results of experiments show that this framework is competent to track infrared point targets.     

Tensor Fukunaga-Koontz transform for small target detection in infrared images

Infrared small targets detection plays a crucial role in warning and tracking systems. Some novel methods based on pattern recognition technology catch much attention from researchers. However, those classic methods must reshape images into vectors with the high dimensionality. Moreover, vectorizing breaks the natural structure and correlations in the image data. Image representation based on tensor treats images as matrices and can hold the natural structure and correlation information. So tensor algorithms have better classification performance than vector algorithms. Fukunaga-Koontz transform is one of classification algorithms and it is a vector version method with the disadvantage of all vector algorithms. In this paper, we first extended the Fukunaga-Koontz transform into its tensor version, tensor Fukunaga-Koontz transform. Then we designed a method based on tensor Fukunaga-Koontz transform for detecting targets and used it to detect small targets in infrared images. The experimental results, comparison through signal-to-clutter, signal-to-clutter gain and background suppression factor, have validated the advantage of the target detection based on the tensor Fukunaga-Koontz transform over that based on the Fukunaga-Koontz transform.     

A target group tracking algorithm based on a hybrid sensor network

Traditional tracking algorithms based on static sensors have several problems. First, the targets only occur in a part of the interested area; however, a large number of static sensors are distributed in the area to guarantee entire coverage, which leads to wastage of sensor resources. Second, many static sensors have to remain in active mode to track the targets, which causes an increase of energy consumption. To solve these problems, a target group tracking algorithm based on a hybrid sensor network is proposed in this paper, which includes static sensors and mobile sensors. First, an estimation algorithm is proposed to estimate the objective region by static sensors, which work in low-power sensing mode. Second, a movement algorithm based on sliding windows is proposed for mobile sensors to obtain the destinations. Simulation results show that this algorithm can reduce the number of mobile sensors participating in the tracking task and prolong the network lifetime.     

Application of a Passive Polarimetric Infrared Sensor in Improved Detection and Classification of Targets

Automatic detection and recognition of targets by means of passive IR sensors suffer from limitations due to lack of sufficient contrast between the targets and their background, and among the facets of a target.In this paper the results of a suite of polarization-sensitive automatic target detection and recognition algorithms on sets of simulated and real polarimetric IR imagery are presented. A custom designed Polarimetric IR (PIR) imaging sensor is used for collecting real polarimetric target data-three of the four Stokes parameters under a variety of conditions. Then a set of novel algorithms are designed and tested that uses the target and background Stokes parameters for detection, segmentation and classification of targets.The empirical performance results are obtained in terms of the probabilities of detection, false alarm rate, segmentation accuracy, and recognition probabilities as functions of number of pixels on target, aspect and depression angles and under several background conditions (clutter densities) on the polarimetric and non-polarimetrirc data. These results show that a noticeable improvement over the non-polarimetric ATR can be achieved.     

Joint detection and tracking of size-varying infrared targets based on block-wise sparse decomposition

The high variability of target size makes small target detection in Infrared Search and Track (IRST) a challenging task. A joint detection and tracking method based on block-wise sparse decomposition is proposed to address this problem. For detection, the infrared image is divided into overlapped blocks, and each block is weighted on the local image complexity and target existence probabilities. Target-background decomposition is solved by block-wise inexact augmented Lagrange multipliers. For tracking, label multi-Bernoulli (LMB) tracker tracks multiple targets taking the result of single-frame detection as input, and provides corresponding target existence probabilities for detection. Unlike fixed-size methods, the proposed method can accommodate size-varying targets, due to no special assumption for the size and shape of small targets. Because of exact decomposition, classical target measurements are extended and additional direction information is provided to improve tracking performance. The experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively suppress background clutters, detect and track size-varying targets in infrared images.     

A novel infrared small moving target detection method based on tracking interest points under complicated background

Infrared moving target detection is an important part of infrared technology. We introduce a novel infrared small moving target detection method based on tracking interest points under complicated background. Firstly, Difference of Gaussians (DOG) filters are used to detect a group of interest points (including the moving targets). Secondly, a sort of small targets tracking method inspired by Human Visual System (HVS) is used to track these interest points for several frames, and then the correlations between interest points in the first frame and the last frame are obtained. Last, a new clustering method named as R-means is proposed to divide these interest points into two groups according to the correlations, one is target points and another is background points. In experimental results, the target-to-clutter ratio (TCR) and the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves are computed experimentally to compare the performances of the proposed method and other five sophisticated methods. From the results, the proposed method shows a better discrimination of targets and clutters and has a lower false alarm rate than the existing moving target detection methods.     

Aerial Video Trackers Review

Target tracking technology that is based on aerial videos is widely used in many fields; however, this technology has challenges, such as image jitter, target blur, high data dimensionality, and large changes in the target scale. In this paper, the research status of aerial video tracking and the characteristics, background complexity and tracking diversity of aerial video targets are summarized. Based on the findings, the key technologies that are related to tracking are elaborated according to the target type, number of targets and applicable scene system. The tracking algorithms are classified according to the type of target, and the target tracking algorithms that are based on deep learning are classified according to the network structure. Commonly used aerial photography datasets are described, and the accuracies of commonly used target tracking methods are evaluated in an aerial photography dataset, namely, UAV123, and a long-video dataset, namely, UAV20L. Potential problems are discussed, and possible future research directions and corresponding development trends in this field are analyzed and summarized.     

海天复杂背景下红外目标的检测跟踪算法

在分析海天复杂背景下红外目标图像特征的基础上,提出适合该环境的红外目标检测算法.该算法采用行均值相减的方法抑制海平面非线性温度场的影响,并进行中值滤波处理.对于更加复杂的环境,选用数学形态滤波法抑制背景中的大面积云团或海浪,从而确定出目标区域来进行目标图像的分割及增强.同时,综合使用图像捕获区域指定、运动目标检测法、弱目标的增强提取、记忆外推功能、数据融合加权跟踪方法,来保证在海天复杂背景下红外目标的可靠跟踪.实验表明,该算法能较好地处理海天复杂背景下红外目标的检测,且算法易于硬件实现,提高目标检测的实时效率.     

一种基于Kalman滤波的环形模板匹配相关跟踪算法(英文)

为了解决在目标跟踪系统中,传统相关算法在目标发生目标局部遮挡或旋转等姿态变化较大的情况时容易跟踪丢失的问题,提出一种改进的基于卡尔曼预测器的环形模板匹配相关跟踪的算法.利用卡尔曼预测器来预测下一帧目标可能出现的区域,然后在较小的预测区域中进行环形相关匹配运算,找到最佳相关匹配点,使跟踪更具主动性。环形匹配还可以克服由于姿态变化而引起的横向匹配点丢失,从而可以跟踪各种姿态运动的机动目标.实验中,利用改进算法对出现局部遮挡情况的姿态变化大的运动目标进行跟踪,传统算法处理此类情况容易跑飞,而本文算法不受这两种跟踪局限性的干扰,始终稳定跟踪机动目标且耗时大幅减少.     

A robust infrared dim target detection method based on template filtering and saliency extraction

Dim target detection in infrared image with complex background and low signal-clutter ratio (SCR) is a significant and difficult task in the infrared target tracking system. A robust infrared dim target detection method based on template filtering and saliency extraction is proposed in this paper. The weighted gray map is obtained from the infrared image to highlight the target which is brighter than its neighbors and has weak correlation with its background. The target saliency map is then calculated by phase spectrum of Fourier Transform, so that the dim target detection could be converted to salient region extraction. The potential targets are finally extracted by combining the two maps. Moreover, position discrimination between targets in the two maps is used to exclude the false alarms and extract the targets. Experimental results on measured images indicate that our method is feasible, adaptable and robust in different backgrounds. The ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic) curves obtained from the simulated images demonstrate the proposed method outperforms some existing typical methods in both detection rate and false alarm rate, for target detection with low SCR.     

相位一致性图像及其在目标跟踪中的应用(英文)

针对传统实时相关跟踪方法对照度变化敏感的问题,提出了一种基于相位一致性图像的相关跟踪方法.利用相位一致性函数值在[0,1]区间内且无量纲、对图像的亮度和对比度具有不变性等特点,首先对原始图像进行相位一致性检测,得到相位一致性图像,再利用MAD(Minimum Absolute Difference)等相关跟踪算法在相位一致性图像中对目标进行跟踪运算.对可见光和红外图像的实验表明,在图像的亮度和对比度发生剧烈变化的情况下,算法仍能保持对目标的稳定跟踪.该方法可用于解决传统实时相关跟踪方法普遍存在的因照度变化导致跟踪点漂移甚至跟踪失败的问题.     

A unified algorithm for target detection and tracing based on data of array sensors

A unified method for target detection and tracing based on data from sensors of array is presented in order to improve detection and tracking abilities of the weak targets with low signal-to-noise ratio. Assuming that the multiple targets are uncorrelated each other and the number of the targets is known a priori, the status of the targets can be estimated with the maximum a-posteriori （MAP） method directly through the sensors data. The proposed method is different from the classical method, by which it can detect and track targets simultaneously by adding the target＇s signal energy information besides its direction of arrivM（DOA） information. Simulated and sea trial data results show that the detection and tracing capabilities of weak targets can be improved and wrong tracing and missing tracing problems, which exist in the classical tracing method when it is faced with the crossing targets, can be resolved by the proposed method.     

Infrared dim target detection based on visual attention

Accurate and fast detection of infrared (IR) dim target has very important meaning for infrared precise guidance, early warning, video surveillance, etc. Based on human visual attention mechanisms, an automatic detection algorithm for infrared dim target is presented. After analyzing the characteristics of infrared dim target images, the method firstly designs Difference of Gaussians (DoG) filters to compute the saliency map. Then the salient regions where the potential targets exist in are extracted by searching through the saliency map with a control mechanism of winner-take-all (WTA) competition and inhibition-of-return (IOR). At last, these regions are identified by the characteristics of the dim IR targets, so the true targets are detected, and the spurious objects are rejected. The experiments are performed for some real-life IR images, and the results prove that the proposed method has satisfying detection effectiveness and robustness. Meanwhile, it has high detection efficiency and can be used for real-time detection.     

Spectral band independent recognition in a differential binary joint transform correlator

Images of a target in a specific spectral band in general show no correlation with images of the same target in a different spectral band. Hence in a joint transform correlator (JTC) architecture, if the reference and input target are the images captured through a visible (e.g., charge-coupled device or CCD camera) and infrared (IR) detector, autocorrelation peaks are not obtained. This drawback has been overcome in this paper by the use of a CCD–IR fused image as the reference image. Daubechies wavelet transform, which produces the least root-mean-square (RMS) error in the fusion process in comparison to other wavelets, has been used for the purpose. A comparative analysis of the proposed idea has been carried out for the classical JTC (CJTC), binary JTC (BJTC) and differential binary JTC (DBJTC) algorithms. Since the DBJTC removes the dc completely and produces sharp correlation peaks compared to the other techniques, computer simulation and experimental results are shown for the proposed idea using DBJTC. The same fused reference image has also been used to identify multiple targets in a scene using DBJTC. Performance measures like correlation peak intensity (CPI), dc/ac and peak correlation energy (PCE) have been calculated as metrics of goodness for the proposed scheme.     

相邻帧间匹配的迎头点目标跟踪算法

针对海空复杂背景下迎头点目标检测与跟踪难题,提出了一种基于相邻帧间匹配的边检测边跟踪算法.算法对相邻红外图像序列帧间点与点的邻域匹配,标记匹配结果兴趣区域像素点,统计标记次数,与输入单帧图像同步显示迎头目标检测结果.算法主要特点在于无需提前假定疑似目标点位置,单个匹配过程与当前相邻两帧外的其它序列帧无关,整个匹配过程不随目标数目多少或运动状态变化而改变.根据仿真和实拍照片实验,证实了理论上区别于传统算法的上述优点,在军事应用中具有较高的参考价值.     

基于FPGA的运动目标实时检测跟踪算法及其实现技术

运动目标检测跟踪有关的算法及其基于PC平台的实现已经比较成熟,但实时性较差。将采集的彩色视频流分成灰度和彩色两个数据流,灰度视频用于目标检测,彩色视频流用于跟踪显示。以经典的帧间差分法和背景差分法为基础,根据现场可编程门阵列(FPGA)的特点及片外同步动态存储器的存取控制要求,对这两个算法用FPGA逻辑单元进行了设计和实现。对原始彩色视频流和转换后的灰度视频流的存取使用乒乓操作,在滤波和形态学处理时使用了并行的流水线操作,极大地提高了算法的实时处理能力。在FPGA开发板上构建了一个彩色视频图像中运动目标检测跟踪系统,对系统性能进行了测试。实验结果表明,系统可在多种分辨率和帧率下进行运动目标进行实时检测跟踪;固定背景差分法对目标运动速度无限制,但当使用帧差法对快速运动目标进行有效的检测时,应使目标的帧差间距大于3.2像素。