Image fusion for the detection of camouflaged people

The use of thermal imaging is a benefit for the Armed Forces. Due to their advantages, they have a large number of applications, including the detection of camouflaged people. For better results, the thermal information can be merged with the color information which allows a greater detail, resulting in a greater degree of security. The present study implemented as pixel level image fusion methods: Principal Components Analysis; Laplacian Pyramid; and Discrete Wavelet Transform. A qualitative analysis concluded that the method which performs better is the one that uses Wavelets, followed by the Laplacian Pyramid and finally the PCA. A quantitative analysis was made using as performance metrics: Standard Deviation, Entropy, Spatial Frequency, Mutual Information, Fusion Quality Index and Structural Similarity Index. The values obtained support the conclusions drawn from the qualitative analysis. The Mutual Information, Fusion Quality Index and Structural Similarity Index are the appropriate metrics to measure the quality of image fusion as they take into account the relationship between the fused image and the input images.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fusão de imagem para detenção de pessoas camufladas

A utilização de imagens térmicas constitui um beneficio para as Forças Armadas. Devido às suas inúmeras vantagens, têm um grande número de aplicações, entre as quais a detenção de pessoas camufladas. Para melhores resultados, a informação visível pode ser combinada com a informação térmica. A fusão de informação gerada por múltiplas fontes de imagem, permite um maior detalhe, resultando num maior grau de segurança. No presente estudo foram implementados três métodos de fusão de imagem ao nível do pixel baseados em: análise em componentes principais, pirâmide laplaciana e transformada wavelet discreta. As imagens utilizadas têm dimensão de 320x240 pixés, cada uma é constituída por uma imagem da banda de visível e uma imagem térmica, e foram obtidas com uma câmara FLIR. Foi realizada uma análise qualitativa de onde se concluiu que o método que obtém melhores resultados é aquele que utiliza as wavelets, seguido do que utiliza a pirâmide laplaciana. De seguida, foi efetuada uma análise quantitativa usando como métricas de desempenho o desvio padrão, a entropia, a frequência espacial, a informação mútua, o índice de qualidade de fusão e o índice de semelhança estrutural. Os valores adquiridos sustentam as conclusões retiradas da análise qualitativa. Conclui-se que a informação mútua, o índice de qualidade de fusão e o índice de semlhança estrutural são as métricas adequadas para medir a qualidade da fusão de imagem, pois têm em consideração a relação existente entre a imagem fundida e as imagens fonte.The use of thermal imaging is a benefit to the Armed Forces. Due to their numerous advantages, they have a large number of applications, incuding the detention of camouflaged people. For better results, the visible information can be merged with the thermal information. The information generated by fusing multiple input images, allows a greater detail, resulting in a greater degree of security. The present study implemented three-pixel level image fusion methods based on: principal component analysis, laplacian pyramid and discrete wavelet transform. The images used have a 320x240 pixel, each one consisting of a visible image and a thermal image, and were obtained with a FLIR camera. A qualitative analysis concluded that the method which performs better is the one that uses the wavelets, followed by the laplacian pyramid. Then it was made a quantitative analysis using performance metrics as the standard deviation, entropy, spatial frequency, mutual information, fusion quality index and structural similarity index. The values obtained ​​support the conclusions drawn from the qualitative analysis. We conclude that the mutual information,fusion quality index and structural similarity index are the appropriate metrics to measure the quality of image fusion as they take into account the relationship between the fused image and the input images

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved