An automatic target detection algorithm based on wavelet analysis for infrared image small target in background of sea and sky

An automatic target detection algorithm is developed for infrared image small target in complicate background of sea and sky. Wavelet multiresolution edge detection algorithm is adopted to detect the sea-level line from coarse to fine. A strip can be decided accordingly as the potential area where the naval vessel targets in infrared images usually appear. We realized target detection by defining an energy function that integrated the results of horizontal wavelet transform. We complete the detection by marking the position where the energy is assumed the maximum and improving the target location precision by comparing the dissimilarity between a couple of windows. Experiment results indicate that the method can detect and locate small targets precisely in an infrared image with high detection probability