Total Variation Weighted Low-Rank Constraint for Infrared Dim Small Target Detection

Infrared dim small target detection is the critical technology in the situational awareness field currently. The detection algorithm of the infrared patch image (IPI) model combined with the total variation term is a recent research hotspot in this field, but there is an obvious staircase effect in target detection, which reduces the detection accuracy to some extent. This paper further investigates the problem of accurate detection of infrared dim small targets and a novel method based on total variation weighted low-rank constraint (TVWLR) is proposed. According to the overlapping edge information of image background structure characteristics, the weights of constraint low-rank items are adaptively determined to effectively suppress the staircase effect and enhance the details. Moreover, an optimization algorithm combined with the augmented Lagrange multiplier method is proposed to solve the established TVWLR model. Finally, the experimental results of multiple sequence images indicate that the proposed algorithm has obvious improvements in detection accuracy, including receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, background suppression factor (BSF) and signal-to-clutter ratio gain (SCRG). Furthermore, the proposed method has stronger robustness under complex background conditions such as buildings and trees.