Graph cuts based moving object detection for aerial video

With the wide development of UAV technology, moving target detection for aerial video has become a hot research topic in the computer vision. Most existing methods are under the registration-detection framework and can only deal with simple background scenes. They tend to go wrong in the complex multi background scenarios, such as viaduct, building and trees. In this paper, we break through the single background constraint and perceive the complex scene accurately by automatic estimation of multiple background models. First, we divide the scene into several color blocks and estimate the dense optical flow. Then, we calculate an affine transformation model for each block with large area and merge the consistent models. Finally, we calculate subordinate degree to multi-background models pixel to pixel for all small area blocks. Moving objects are segmented by energy optimization method solved via Graph Cuts. The extensive experimental results on public aerial videos show that, due to multi background models estimation, analyzing each pixels subordinate relationship to multi models by energy minimization, our method can effectively remove buildings, trees and other false alarms and detect moving objects correctly.