Clustered remote sensing target distribution detection aided by density-based spatial analysis

Abstract

Small target detection in remote sensing is integral to a range of applications, including smart city systems and emergency rescue operations. However, the challenges posed by weak features and complex backgrounds in remote sensing images have hindered the efficacy of detection. Current models tend to focus on identifying individual targets, resulting in algorithms with larger parameters, slower detection efficiency, and difficulty in striking a balance between false positives and negatives. Given that many tasks do not require precise target location, a more efficient approach involves swiftly predicting target areas with models involving fewer parameters. This paper introduces the concept of group target distribution detection, gathering targets with similar distances and semantic similarities for clustered detection. A Gaussian probability map, formed from target density, is used to train a probability prediction model. We propose a new metric for evaluating this innovative group target distribution detection paradigm and provide a comparative assessment with traditional single-object detection models. In experimental evaluation, our proposed DenseUGE network — employing ResNet34 and ResNet50 as its backbone — surpasses the best baseline method by 3.37% on the AI-TOD dataset using our metrics. Additionally, visualizations demonstrate the ability of our proposed methodology to effectively identify the concentrated distribution of small target groups.