Improving infrared vehicle detection with polarisation

Vehicle detection in infrared imagery can be a difficult task due to the presence of clutter and weak target signatures. However, the infrared polarimetric signature of vehicles can be strong and distinctive. Descriptors based on infrared polarimetric imagery are shown to provide improved vehicle detection performance above those based on infrared intensity alone. A new polarimetric histogram descriptor, built from the degree and angle of polarisation of a vehicle, is proposed.