Comparing statistical and spatial characteristics of urban and rural infrared images, part 2: Background simulation

In the previous article, a comparison between the statistical and the spatial properties of IR images of rural and urban background was presented. Analyzing the characteristics of these two backgrounds yielded noticeable differences in most of the extracted parameters and their diurnal patterns. Furthermore, the experimental data pose a remarkable deviation from those predicted by the most accepted model for desert terrain IR images (Ben-Yosef model). The effect that might be responsible for these discrepancies is the local scene topography, which is clearly enhanced in an urban environment. To investigate this hypothesis, we introduce a simple modification of the Ben-Yosef model that incorporates a simulated urban background. The comparison between the simulation and experiment shows good agreement. We conclude that the scene's topography in an urban background is the most important parameter that governs its statistical and spatial characteristics in the IR band.