SatDetX-YOLO: A More Accurate Method for Vehicle Target Detection in Satellite Remote Sensing Imagery

Satellite remote sensing technology significantly contributes to intelligent transportation by optimizing traffic planning via global perspectives and rich data, enhancing traffic efficiency and reducing environmental impact. However, current target detection models frequently exhibit low accuracy in vehicle detection tasks due to complex background interference in satellite imageries and a need for critical semantic information. To improve vehicle target detection accuracy, this study introduces SatDetX-YOLO, a vehicle detection model for satellite remote sensing images based on YOLOv8. The model involves reconstructing the backbone network with FasterNet for enhanced feature extraction, a redesigned decoupled head for improved computational efficiency and complex data processing, and incorporating the Deformable Attention Module (DAM) to increase sensitivity to small targets and feature correlation capture. Employing the Maximum Probabilistic Distance IoU (MPDIoU) loss function enhances adaptability and generalization to diverse vehicle targets. Experimental results demonstrate that under comparable FPS, SatDetX-YOLO’s Precision (P), Recall (R), and Mean Average Precision (mAP) improved by 3.5%, 3.3%, and 3.2%, respectively. Despite a minor reduction in FPS, the model significantly enhances detection accuracy, striking a balance between accuracy and speed.