Point target detection in consecutive frame staring infrared imagery with evolving cloud clutter

Jonathan Martin Mooney; Jerry Silverman; Charlene E. Caefer

doi:10.1117/12.210757

1 September 1995 Point target detection in consecutive frame staring infrared imagery with evolving cloud clutter

Jonathan Martin Mooney, Jerry Silverman, Charlene E. Caefer

Author Affiliations +

Optical Engineering, Vol. 34, Issue 9, (September 1995). https://doi.org/10.1117/12.210757

Abstract

The problem of detection of aircraft at long range in a background of evolving cloud clutter is treated. A staring infrared camera is favored for this application due to its passive nature, day/night operation, and rapid frame rate. The rapid frame rate increases the frame-to-frame correlation of the evolving cloud clutter; cloud-clutter leakage is a prime source of false alarms. Targets of opportunity in daytime imagery were used to develop and compare two algorithm approaches: banks of spatio-temporal velocity filters followed by dynamic-programming-based stage-to-stage association, and a simple recursive temporal filter arrived at from a singular-value decomposition analysis of the data. To quantify the relative performance of the two approaches, we modify conventional metrics for signal-to-clutter gains in order to make them more germane to consecutive frame real data processing. The temporal filter, in responding preferentially to pixels influenced by moving point targets over those influenced by drifting clouds, achieves impressive cloud-clutter suppression without requiring subpixel frame registration. The velocity filter technique is roughly half as effective in clutter suppression but is twice as sensitive to weak targets in white noise (close to blue sky conditions). The real-time hardware implementation of the temporal filter is far more practical.

Citation Download Citation

Jonathan Martin Mooney, Jerry Silverman, and Charlene E. Caefer "Point target detection in consecutive frame staring infrared imagery with evolving cloud clutter," Optical Engineering 34(9), (1 September 1995). https://doi.org/10.1117/12.210757

Published: 1 September 1995

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available