A sequential detection and tracking (SDT) approach is proposed for detection and tracking of very low signal-to-noise (SNR) objects. The proposed approach is compared with two existing particle filter track-before-track (TBD) methods. It is shown that the former outperforms the latter. A conventional detection and tracking (CDT) approach, based on one-data-frame thresholding, is considered as a benchmark for comparison. Simulations demonstrate the performance.

A multiple model track-before-detect (TBD) particle filter-based approach for detection and tracking of low signal to noise ratio (SNR) objects based on a sequence of image frames in the presence of noise and clutter is briefly studied in this letter. At each time instance after receiving a frame of image, first, some preprocessing approaches are applied to the image. Then, it is sent to the multiple model TBD particle filter for detection and tracking of an object. Performance of the approach is evaluated for detection and tracking of an object in different scenarios including noise and clutter.