J. Eur. Opt. Society-Rapid Publ. 2026, 22, 32 Ó The Author( s), published by EDP Sciences, 2026 https:// doi. org / 10.1051 / jeos / 2026027 Available online at: https:// jeos. edpsciences. org
Journal of the European Optical Society-Rapid Publications
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Research on the evolution law of ship targets infrared characteristics in port environment
Hang Yuan 1, 2,*
, Jiahui Ren 1, Yang Zhang 1, Jiahao Min 1, and Zheng Zhang 1
1 Shaanxi University of Science & Technology, Xi’ an 710021, PR China 2 School of Physics, Xidian University, Xi’ an 710071, PR China
Received 20 January 2026 / Accepted 7 March 2026 Abstract. Based on the differences in material properties between the target and the background, and combined with changes in environmental, lighting, and temporal conditions, an optical imaging feature prediction model for ship targets in a port background is constructed to explore the impact of the“ thermal crossover” phenomenon on the infrared detection performance of ship targets. Firstly, Fluent software is used to calculate the surface temperature distribution of the target under different environmental conditions. Combined with the material and radiation scattering characteristics of different parts of the target, a radiation transmission model of the ship target is constructed. Secondly, Landsat 8 remote sensing data is used to invert the port temperature distribution under specific seasonal and temporal conditions, and land cover classification is performed based on a supervised classification algorithm. Based on meteorological data, the Kriging algorithm is used to achieve temperature expansion of the port background under different temporal conditions. Meanwhile, topographic factors such as elevation, slope, and aspect of land features are taken into account to establish a high-precision temporal temperature reconstruction model with topographic modulation. The differences in sea surface radiation characteristics and scattering effects are taken into account to establish a background radiation transfer model. Finally, combining solar, sky, and atmospheric radiative transfer models, the modulation effect of the space-based optical platform is considered, and an imaging prediction model of the“ ship target-port background-ambient illumination-atmospheric transmission” is established. The results show that during non-thermal crossover periods in summer, the detectability of 3 – 5 lm is better than that of 8 – 14 lm, while the opposite is true during thermal crossover periods in winter. At the critical moment of thermal crossover in summer, the detectability of 3 – 5 lm is worse than that of 8 – 14 lm, while at the critical moment of thermal crossover in winter, the detectability of 3 – 5 lm and 8 – 14 lm are relatively close.
Keywords: detection.
Thermal crossover, Infrared radiation and imaging, Modeling and simulation, Space-based
1 Introduction
A deep understanding of the infrared characteristics of ships is not only the foundation for improving the accuracy of infrared imaging simulation, but also a key prerequisite for realizing automatic target identification and threat assessment [ 1 ]. Space-based infrared detection has important application value in maritime monitoring, early warning and target identification [ 2 ]. However, the imaging results from the space-based platforms are affected by multiple factors such as complex background, atmospheric transmission and optical system characteristics. Especially in the typical scenario of a port, the dense ship targets, complex background composition, and frequent environmental
* Corresponding author: hyuan0525 @ sust. edu. cn changes lead to a significant dynamic evolution of the infrared characteristics of the targets.
Accurate understanding of the space-based optical imaging characteristics of ship targets has always been an important research direction in the field of infrared detection. Many scholars have conducted fruitful research work in this area, and related theories and methods are constantly being improved. The surface temperature and the IR signals within MWIR and LWIR are calculated considering the 3D ship model, the internal heater temperature, and the atmospheric conditions [ 3 ]. Bin C [ 4 ] studied the infrared simulation of warships under different statuses and simulated the ship wake, and proposed a wake modeling method, which improved the fidelity of the whole scene. A ship infrared radiation calculation model is proposed by LIN Juan [ 5 ]
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