Effectiveness evaluation of infrared camouflage using image saliency

• Published in: Infrared physics & technology Vol. 95; pp. 213 - 221
• Main Authors: Cheng, Xiao-peng, Zhao, Da-peng, Yu, Zhi-jie, Zhang, Jin-hua, Bian, Jin-tian, Yu, Da-bin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.12.2018
• Subjects: Camouflage effectiveness; Features fusion; Image saliency; Infrared camouflage; Infrared camouflage; Camouflage effectiveness; Image saliency; Features fusion
• ISSN: 1350-4495; 1879-0275
• DOI: 10.1016/j.infrared.2018.11.001

•Establishing index system for IR camouflage effectiveness evaluation.•The combination of different kinds of features avoiding the one-sidedness caused by single features during the evaluation.•The nonlinear feature fusion strategy making the evaluation more objective.•The value can well reflect the camouflage effectiveness of different targets in a certain background quantitatively.•Making it possible to directly differentiate the camouflage effectiveness of different targets. This paper reports on an alternative approach to the effectiveness evaluation of IR camouflage using image saliency. The master saliency and interior saliency of a target were computed according to its background-related features and internal shape features, respectively. The fusion of master saliency and interior saliency were further used to obtain a comprehensive saliency value, by which the camouflage effectiveness value of a target was finally obtained. Under the same experimental conditions, the target with camouflage matching well with the background had the highest camouflage effectiveness value, while the target without camouflage had the lowest camouflage effectiveness value, indicating that such a value can well reflect the camouflage effectiveness of different targets in a certain background. Acting as a quantitative index, the camouflage effectiveness value makes it possible for us to directly differentiate the camouflage effectiveness of not only different targets under the same conditions but also one target under different conditions, which should be useful for the development of IR camouflage materials and the deployment of military equipment in battlefield.