Contrast enhancement of missile video sequences via image stabilization and product correlation

Abstract

An image sequence containing a missile in flight often contains a strong plume signature expelled by the missile along with a weak signal corresponding to the missile hardbody. Enhancement of the missile signal is necessary to accurately track the trajectory throughout the image sequence. A parametric motion estimation algorithm is proposed for the passive stabilization of the data set. By stabilizing the image sequence with respect to the missile vacuum core, a registered sequence is produced with the missile located in the same position within each frame. Missile contrast can then be enhanced by applying a novel technique known as product correlation to the stabilized data. Product correlation is presented in the context of higher order statistics, and it offers a computationally efficient means of obtaining sample moments of high orders collectively. Simulations with missile sequences acquired in the IR and visible portions of the spectrum show that image stabilization followed by product correlation successfully enhances missile signal contrast, particularly in image sequences characterized by low SNRs.