Information differences between subbands of the mid-wave infrared spectrum

The U.S. Army has been investigating the differences between various bands in the mid-wave and long-wave infrared spectrum. A holistic approach to quantifying scene information was used in previous research. That is, both natural backgrounds and vehicles were present in scenes when correlation analyses were performed. Similar research has also been performed using hyperspectral imagers. Hyperspectral imagers inherently have poor signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) due to the spectral bandwidth of the individual images. In the new research reported here, a mid-wave infrared broadband sensor is cold filtered to provide four subbands in the mid-wave region. A multiwaveband sensor is used to collect mid-wave infrared imagery of military vehicles and natural backgrounds. Three blackbody sources are placed at the same range as the vehicles for radiometric calibration. The goal is to collect radiometrically corrected data of various vehicle targets and backgrounds. These data are then processed for comparative analysis. The images are segmented to remove all unwanted imagery from the images under observation. Pair-wise correlations between corresponding spectral images are performed to assess the differences in information content between the subbands.