Adaptive Scale Patch-Based Contrast Measure for Dim and Small Infrared Target Detection

Effective detection of small infrared (IR) targets buried in complex backgrounds and heavy noise plays an important role in IR search and track (IRST) systems. In this letter, an IR small target detection method called adaptive scale patch-based contrast measure (ASPCM) is proposed. Compared with existing detection methods based on the human visual system (HVS), our method can estimate the size of the potential target at each location. According to the estimated size, the local contrast between the target and the background is greatly enhanced, and the background clutter can be further suppressed. Experimental results on four real sequences of different complex background demonstrate that the proposed method can detect targets effectively and efficiently, even in the case of complex backgrounds and heavy noises.