Calibrated Long-Wave Infrared (LWIR) Thermal and Polarimetric Imagery of Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Birds

Currently, agencies within the Department of Defense (DOD) and the private sector are trying to develop techniques capable of detecting the presence of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at ranges on the order of 1–5 km. Often complicating this effort is the presence of small birds of similar dimensions that are frequently mistaken to be small UAVs when imaged using various methodologies, such as visible, short-wave infrared (SWIR) and thermal imaging.