Improved Detection of Multiple Faint Streak-like Space Targets from a Single Star Image

With the increasing number of human space activities, space surveillance systems need to be developed to reduce the risk of collisions between space assets and space debris. In this context, optical surveillance systems have gradually become a significant means of space surveillance due to their var...

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Main Authors: Yong Han, Desheng Wen, Jie Li, Zhangchi Qiao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-02-01
Series:Remote Sensing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/4/631
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author Yong Han
Desheng Wen
Jie Li
Zhangchi Qiao
author_facet Yong Han
Desheng Wen
Jie Li
Zhangchi Qiao
author_sort Yong Han
collection DOAJ
description With the increasing number of human space activities, space surveillance systems need to be developed to reduce the risk of collisions between space assets and space debris. In this context, optical surveillance systems have gradually become a significant means of space surveillance due to their various advantages. Generally, the sidereal tracking mode is used to search for unknown moving targets, which appear as streaks in the star image generated by the optical surveillance system. Typical matched filtering can detect faint streak-like targets in star images, but it generates more false alarms and must traverse all potential filters. In this paper, the layering approach is used to improve the environment for detecting faint targets, in which dual-threshold segmentation is proposed to separate bright objects while maintaining the completeness of faint targets. Second, a streak-like matched filter unit and a dual-step search approach are recommended to lower the computational cost of matched filtering. Finally, perpendicular cross filtering is provided to further eliminate false positives. Experiments performed with both simulated and real data demonstrate that the proposed method has excellent detection performance for detecting multiple faint streak-like targets in a single star image.
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institution OA Journals
issn 2072-4292
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spelling doaj-art-327e90990187489989fe73f014aed1402025-08-20T02:03:42ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-02-0117463110.3390/rs17040631Improved Detection of Multiple Faint Streak-like Space Targets from a Single Star ImageYong Han0Desheng Wen1Jie Li2Zhangchi Qiao3Xi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of CAS, Xi’an 710119, ChinaXi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of CAS, Xi’an 710119, ChinaDepartment of Information and Communication Engineering, School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, ChinaXi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of CAS, Xi’an 710119, ChinaWith the increasing number of human space activities, space surveillance systems need to be developed to reduce the risk of collisions between space assets and space debris. In this context, optical surveillance systems have gradually become a significant means of space surveillance due to their various advantages. Generally, the sidereal tracking mode is used to search for unknown moving targets, which appear as streaks in the star image generated by the optical surveillance system. Typical matched filtering can detect faint streak-like targets in star images, but it generates more false alarms and must traverse all potential filters. In this paper, the layering approach is used to improve the environment for detecting faint targets, in which dual-threshold segmentation is proposed to separate bright objects while maintaining the completeness of faint targets. Second, a streak-like matched filter unit and a dual-step search approach are recommended to lower the computational cost of matched filtering. Finally, perpendicular cross filtering is provided to further eliminate false positives. Experiments performed with both simulated and real data demonstrate that the proposed method has excellent detection performance for detecting multiple faint streak-like targets in a single star image.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/4/631star image processingmultiple space targetsfaint target detection
spellingShingle Yong Han
Desheng Wen
Jie Li
Zhangchi Qiao
Improved Detection of Multiple Faint Streak-like Space Targets from a Single Star Image
Remote Sensing
star image processing
multiple space targets
faint target detection
title Improved Detection of Multiple Faint Streak-like Space Targets from a Single Star Image
title_full Improved Detection of Multiple Faint Streak-like Space Targets from a Single Star Image
title_fullStr Improved Detection of Multiple Faint Streak-like Space Targets from a Single Star Image
title_full_unstemmed Improved Detection of Multiple Faint Streak-like Space Targets from a Single Star Image
title_short Improved Detection of Multiple Faint Streak-like Space Targets from a Single Star Image
title_sort improved detection of multiple faint streak like space targets from a single star image
topic star image processing
multiple space targets
faint target detection
url https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/4/631
work_keys_str_mv AT yonghan improveddetectionofmultiplefaintstreaklikespacetargetsfromasinglestarimage
AT deshengwen improveddetectionofmultiplefaintstreaklikespacetargetsfromasinglestarimage
AT jieli improveddetectionofmultiplefaintstreaklikespacetargetsfromasinglestarimage
AT zhangchiqiao improveddetectionofmultiplefaintstreaklikespacetargetsfromasinglestarimage