Edge directional 2D LMS filter for infrared small target detection

In this paper, we introduce an edge directional 2D least mean squares (LMSs) filter for small target detection in infrared (IR) images. Generally, the 2D LMS filter functions as a background prediction to apply to IR small target detection field. In order to accurately predict background objects as well as regions covered by small targets, the proposed 2D LMS filter take full advantage of edge information of prediction pixels corresponding to surrounding blocks around current filter window. And, to adjust adaptively its step size in the background and small target region, the adaptive region-dependent nonlinear step size is calculated by using the variance of the prediction pixels of the surrounding blocks. This prediction structure and adaptive step size of the proposed 2D LMS filter is applied to the background region including objects such as cloud edge and small target region differently. Through this way, the proposed 2D LMS filter predicts the background excluding small targets. Then, by subtracting the predicted background from the original IR image, small targets can be extracted. Experimental results show that the proposed 2D LMS filter has stronger target extraction and better background suppression ability compared to the existing 2D LMS filters.