{"id":"https://openalex.org/W4410087292","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tgrs.2025.3566889","title":"MDSF: A Plug-and-Play Block for Boosting Infrared Small Target Detection in YOLO-Based Networks","display_name":"MDSF: A Plug-and-Play Block for Boosting Infrared Small Target Detection in YOLO-Based Networks","publication_year":2025,"publication_date":"2025-01-01","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W4410087292","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tgrs.2025.3566889"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1109/tgrs.2025.3566889","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tgrs.2025.3566889","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S111326731","display_name":"IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing","issn_l":"0196-2892","issn":["0196-2892","1558-0644"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319808","host_organization_name":"Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":false,"oa_status":"closed","oa_url":null,"any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":null,"display_name":"Yonghao Gu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1636-5647"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I200845125","display_name":"Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/02y0rxk19","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I200845125"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Yonghao Gu","raw_affiliation_strings":["Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (CICAEET), Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1636-5647","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (CICAEET), Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I200845125"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5102973218","display_name":"Ying Guo","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6748-5098"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I200845125","display_name":"Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/02y0rxk19","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I200845125"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Ying Guo","raw_affiliation_strings":["Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (CICAEET), Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6748-5098","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (CICAEET), Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I200845125"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100745899","display_name":"Wei Xie","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3821-3461"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I200845125","display_name":"Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/02y0rxk19","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I200845125"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Wei Xie","raw_affiliation_strings":["Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (CICAEET), Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (CICAEET), Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I200845125"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5102947073","display_name":"WU Zhe","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5190-0162"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I143868143","display_name":"Anhui University","ror":"https://ror.org/05th6yx34","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I143868143"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Zhe Wu","raw_affiliation_strings":["Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Anhui University, Hefei, China"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Anhui University, Hefei, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I143868143"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5047880424","display_name":"Shibo Dong","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8548-9948"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I200845125","display_name":"Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/02y0rxk19","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I200845125"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Shibo Dong","raw_affiliation_strings":["Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (CICAEET), Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (CICAEET), Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I200845125"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5030689390","display_name":"Gaogang Xie","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4964-1135"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I200845125","display_name":"Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/02y0rxk19","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I200845125"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Guokang Xie","raw_affiliation_strings":["Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (CICAEET), Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (CICAEET), Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I200845125"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":null,"display_name":"Weifeng Xu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2926-2934"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I4210095121","display_name":"China Electric Equipment Group (China)","ror":"https://ror.org/00pgy4f30","country_code":"CN","type":"company","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I4210095121"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Weifeng Xu","raw_affiliation_strings":["Nanjing Sharing Center, CEC Industrial Internet Company Ltd., Nanjing, China","Nanjing Sharing Center, CEC Industrial Internet Co., Ltd, Nanjing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2926-2934","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Nanjing Sharing Center, CEC Industrial Internet Company Ltd., Nanjing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I4210095121"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Nanjing Sharing Center, CEC Industrial Internet Co., Ltd, Nanjing, China","institution_ids":[]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":7,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I200845125"],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":39.7653,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":10,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.99647851,"is_in_top_1_percent":true,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":95,"max":99},"biblio":{"volume":"63","issue":null,"first_page":"1","last_page":"14"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12389","display_name":"Infrared Target Detection Methodologies","score":0.9961000084877014,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2202","display_name":"Aerospace Engineering"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/22","display_name":"Engineering"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12389","display_name":"Infrared Target Detection Methodologies","score":0.9961000084877014,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2202","display_name":"Aerospace Engineering"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/22","display_name":"Engineering"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11992","display_name":"CCD and CMOS Imaging Sensors","score":0.9598000049591064,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2208","display_name":"Electrical and Electronic Engineering"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/22","display_name":"Engineering"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11637","display_name":"Advanced Semiconductor Detectors and Materials","score":0.932699978351593,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2208","display_name":"Electrical and Electronic Engineering"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/22","display_name":"Engineering"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/boosting","display_name":"Boosting (machine learning)","score":0.6983557343482971},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science","display_name":"Computer science","score":0.5696263313293457},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/remote-sensing","display_name":"Remote sensing","score":0.5566662549972534},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/block","display_name":"Block (permutation group theory)","score":0.5499991774559021},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/infrared","display_name":"Infrared","score":0.45358043909072876},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/artificial-intelligence","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","score":0.3929777443408966},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/optics","display_name":"Optics","score":0.13945621252059937},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/geology","display_name":"Geology","score":0.1338263750076294},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/physics","display_name":"Physics","score":0.09917515516281128}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C46686674","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q466303","display_name":"Boosting (machine learning)","level":2,"score":0.6983557343482971},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.5696263313293457},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C62649853","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q199687","display_name":"Remote sensing","level":1,"score":0.5566662549972534},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777210771","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4927124","display_name":"Block (permutation group theory)","level":2,"score":0.5499991774559021},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C158355884","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11388","display_name":"Infrared","level":2,"score":0.45358043909072876},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.3929777443408966},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C120665830","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14620","display_name":"Optics","level":1,"score":0.13945621252059937},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C127313418","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1069","display_name":"Geology","level":0,"score":0.1338263750076294},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C121332964","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q413","display_name":"Physics","level":0,"score":0.09917515516281128},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2524010","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8087","display_name":"Geometry","level":1,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C33923547","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q395","display_name":"Mathematics","level":0,"score":0.0}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1109/tgrs.2025.3566889","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tgrs.2025.3566889","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S111326731","display_name":"IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing","issn_l":"0196-2892","issn":["0196-2892","1558-0644"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319808","host_organization_name":"Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing","raw_type":"journal-article"}],"best_oa_location":null,"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/G1786900755","display_name":"\u6eb6\u6db2\u73af\u5883STM-AFM\u7ec4\u5408\u663e\u5fae\u955c\u9ad8\u7a33\u5b9a\u9ad8\u5206\u8fa8\u539f\u4f4d\u6210\u50cf\u7814\u7a76","funder_award_id":"61971229","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321001","funder_display_name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China"}],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321001","display_name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","ror":"https://ror.org/01h0zpd94"}],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":false,"pdf":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":61,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W1536680647","https://openalex.org/W1976303724","https://openalex.org/W2102605133","https://openalex.org/W2109255472","https://openalex.org/W2193145675","https://openalex.org/W2905527144","https://openalex.org/W2962766617","https://openalex.org/W2963037989","https://openalex.org/W2963150697","https://openalex.org/W2964241181","https://openalex.org/W2966197049","https://openalex.org/W2990763144","https://openalex.org/W3119205652","https://openalex.org/W3122173535","https://openalex.org/W3168997536","https://openalex.org/W3171950886","https://openalex.org/W3177052299","https://openalex.org/W3194790201","https://openalex.org/W3196672296","https://openalex.org/W3207628311","https://openalex.org/W4212863773","https://openalex.org/W4226224676","https://openalex.org/W4281790833","https://openalex.org/W4286285612","https://openalex.org/W4289752563","https://openalex.org/W4293584584","https://openalex.org/W4297676427","https://openalex.org/W4313639548","https://openalex.org/W4318765496","https://openalex.org/W4323666945","https://openalex.org/W4368351250","https://openalex.org/W4372347372","https://openalex.org/W4377710514","https://openalex.org/W4379528676","https://openalex.org/W4385820057","https://openalex.org/W4386071462","https://openalex.org/W4386076325","https://openalex.org/W4386319016","https://openalex.org/W4386813311","https://openalex.org/W4389080187","https://openalex.org/W4393154076","https://openalex.org/W4393170569","https://openalex.org/W4395447471","https://openalex.org/W4396941353","https://openalex.org/W4397011486","https://openalex.org/W4399303364","https://openalex.org/W4400021290","https://openalex.org/W4400314788","https://openalex.org/W4401567633","https://openalex.org/W4402754006","https://openalex.org/W4402861792","https://openalex.org/W4402968335","https://openalex.org/W4403022803","https://openalex.org/W4403181876","https://openalex.org/W4403295599","https://openalex.org/W4403770406","https://openalex.org/W4406209052","https://openalex.org/W6797574089","https://openalex.org/W6856831935","https://openalex.org/W6868582632","https://openalex.org/W6869977326"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W2125652721","https://openalex.org/W1540371141","https://openalex.org/W1549363203","https://openalex.org/W2147697413","https://openalex.org/W2154063878","https://openalex.org/W4231274751","https://openalex.org/W2556012038","https://openalex.org/W1489772951","https://openalex.org/W1538046993","https://openalex.org/W2571255492"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"This":[0,65],"paper":[1],"tackles":[2],"the":[3,63,68,103,129,160,167,178,183,195,209,238],"challenges":[4],"of":[5,62,200,240],"infrared":[6,20,253],"small":[7,72,155],"target":[8,34],"detection,":[9],"aiming":[10],"to":[11,27,71,124,175],"improve":[12],"detection":[13,35,149,219,246],"accuracy":[14],"and":[15,56,93,106,132,154,165,204,231,249],"robustness":[16],"in":[17,32,79,114,202,206,251],"complex,":[18],"low-contrast":[19],"environments.":[21,254],"We":[22],"propose":[23,128],"several":[24],"novel":[25],"enhancements":[26],"YOLO-based":[28],"models,":[29],"commonly":[30],"employed":[31],"real-time":[33],"tasks.":[36],"First,":[37],"we":[38,85,127,158,222],"introduce":[39],"a":[40,47,87,94],"Multi-Scale":[41,95],"Dilated":[42,96],"Separable":[43,97],"Fusion":[44,90,98],"(MDSF)":[45],"block,":[46,105],"flexible":[48],"plug-in":[49],"that":[50,191],"can":[51],"replace":[52,166],"traditional":[53,168],"convolution":[54,77],"layers":[55],"be":[57],"inserted":[58],"at":[59],"various":[60],"stages":[61],"network.":[64],"module":[66,92,164],"enhances":[67],"network\u2019s":[69],"sensitivity":[70],"targets":[73],"by":[74,122,229,233],"leveraging":[75],"large":[76],"kernels":[78],"conjunction":[80],"with":[81,118,144,172,198,226],"multi-scale":[82],"decomposition.":[83],"Next,":[84],"design":[86],"Deep":[88],"Feature":[89],"(DFF)":[91],"Head":[99],"(MDSF-Head)":[100],"based":[101],"on":[102,182],"MDSF":[104],"integrate":[107],"them":[108],"into":[109],"YOLO":[110],"models":[111],"(v5-v11),":[112],"resulting":[113],"significant":[115],"performance":[116],"gains,":[117],"mAP@50":[119,203,227],"values":[120],"improving":[121],"5.4%":[123],"9.6%.":[125],"Furthermore,":[126],"coarse-to-fine":[130],"Spatial":[131],"Channel":[133],"Reconstruction":[134],"Convolution":[135,162],"(C2f_SCConv)":[136],"module,":[137],"which":[138],"effectively":[139],"fuses":[140],"shallow":[141],"spatial":[142],"features":[143],"deep":[145],"semantic":[146],"features,":[147],"boosting":[148],"performance,":[150],"particularly":[151],"for":[152,214],"occluded":[153],"targets.":[156],"Additionally,":[157],"incorporate":[159],"Spatial-to-Depth":[161],"(SPD)":[163],"Complete":[169],"IoU":[170],"(CIoU)":[171],"Efficient-IoU":[173],"(EIoU)":[174],"further":[176],"optimize":[177],"model.":[179],"Experimental":[180],"results":[181,236],"Forward":[184],"Looking":[185],"Infrared":[186,211],"ADAS":[187],"(FLIR)":[188],"dataset":[189,213],"demonstrate":[190],"our":[192,241],"approach":[193],"outperforms":[194],"baseline":[196],"YOLOv8n,":[197],"improvements":[199],"10.9%":[201],"10.3%":[205],"mAP@50-95.":[207],"On":[208],"High-altitude":[210],"Thermal":[212],"Unmanned":[215],"Aerial":[216],"Vehicle-based":[217],"object":[218],"(HIT-UAV)":[220],"dataset,":[221],"observe":[223],"similar":[224],"improvements,":[225],"increasing":[228],"8.1%":[230],"mAP@50-95":[232],"9.7%.":[234],"These":[235],"validate":[237],"effectiveness":[239],"proposed":[242],"method,":[243],"substantially":[244],"enhancing":[245],"accuracy,":[247],"robustness,":[248],"adaptability":[250],"challenging":[252]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":1},{"year":2025,"cited_by_count":9}],"updated_date":"2026-06-06T09:05:17.133730","created_date":"2025-10-10T00:00:00"}