A small target detection algorithm based on multi-scale energy cross

In accordance with the characteristics of the small target against sea and sky background, a small target detection algorithm based on multi-scale mutual energy cross is proposed in this paper. In order to determinate potential region in which the targets lie, sea-level line first is detected by using direction gradient operator. Then on the basis of wavelet decomposition, we define the multi-scale mutual energy cross function to eliminate the intense infrared clutter. The precise position of the small target is finally found by region-growth technique. Experimental results show that the algorithm proposed has better performance with respect to detection probability of single frame and less computation complexity. It is an effective small infrared target detection algorithm against sea and sky background.