An automated method for identification and ranking of hyperspectral target detections

Abstract

In this paper we present a new methodology for automated target detection and identification in hyperspectral imagery. The standard paradigm for target detection in hyperspectral imagery is to run a detection algorithm, typically statistical in nature, and visually inspect each high-scoring pixel to decide whether it is a true detection or a false alarm. Detection filters have constant false alarm rates (CFARs) approaching 10 -5 , but these can still result in a large number of false alarms given multiple images and a large number of target materials. Here we introduce a new methodology for target detection and identification in hyperspectral imagery that shows promise for hard targets. The result is a greatly reduced false alarm rate and a practical methodology for aiding an analyst in quantitatively evaluating detected pixels. We demonstrate the utility of the method with results on data from the HyMap sensor over the Cooke City, MT.