CLUTTER SUPPRESSION PROCESSING FOR INFRARED SEARCH AND TRACK

THE DETECTION OF TARGETS IN BACKGROUND CLUTTER WITH AN IRST IS A KEY FUNCTION FOR SUPPORTING U.S. NAVAL SURVEILLANCE ACTIVITIES. THIS INVOLVES THE EXTRACTION OF TARGETS FROM BACKGROUND WHOSE RADIANCE MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS ARE MANY TIMES THAT OF THE TARGET. A SUCCESSFUL APPROACH, IN MANY CASES IS TO EMPLOY MTI TECHNIQUES TO EXTRACT THE TARGET FROM THE BACKGROUND. HOWEVER, PREPROCESSING TECHNIQUES ARE NEEDED TO REMOVE SCENE MOTION BEFORE THE APPLICATION OF MTI. THIS MAY REQUIRE THE APPLICATION OF SPATIAL FILTERING TECHNIQUES TO SEGMENT THE SCENE INTO REGIONS WHICH HAVE NEARLY THE SAME VELOCITY OF MOTION. THESE SCENE SEGMENTATION TECHNIQUES ARE CLOSELY RELATED TO THE TACTICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPROACHES EMPLOYED BY NRD IN THE EXTRACTION OF STATIONARY TARGETS. OTHER TECHNIQUES, SUCH AS EDGE ENHANCEMENT PROCESSES, ARE ALSO USEFUL IN SEPARATING SECTIONS OF THE SCENE. ONCE THESE SCENES ARE SO SEGMENTED, APPARENT MOTION IN THE SCENE CAN BE REMOVED BY PERFORMING TWO-DIMENSIONAL CORRELATIONS OF THE BACKGROUND IRRADIANCE. WITH THE REMOVAL OF APPARENT MOTION, FRAME-TO-FRAME SUBTRACTION FOLLOWED BY TRACK ASSOCAITION CAN BE EMPLOYED TO EXTRACT THE TARGET AND REJECT CLUTTER.