Vessel classification on UAVs using inertial data and IR imagery

In this study, a civilian ship dataset is constructed via images captured by an infrared camera on an unmanned flying vehicle. By using this dataset and synchronized inertial data (UAV altitude and orientation, gimbal angles), a vessel classification method is proposed. The method first calculates the ship base length in meters by using segmented ship image and inertial data. By fusing the descriptors obtained from the segmented ship images and estimated ship base length, vessel classification is performed.