Small target detection using cross product based on temporal profile in infrared image sequences

This paper presents a new small target detection method using the cross product of the temporal pixels based on the temporal profile in infrared (IR) image sequences. The temporal characteristics of small targets and the various backgrounds are different. A new algorithm classifies target pixels and the background pixels through the hypothesis testing using the cross product of pixels on the temporal profile and predicts the temporal backgrounds based on the results. The small targets are detected by subtracting the predicted temporal background profile from the original temporal profile. For the performance comparison between the proposed algorithm and the conventional algorithms, the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves is computed in experiment. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has better discrimination and a lower false alarm rate than the conventional methods.

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