GIDNet: Infrared Small Target Detection Network Based on Gradient-Intensity Decoupled

Infrared small target detection (IRSTD) plays a pivotal role in a comprehensive set of applications. Despite the extensive research alongside numerous algorithms proposed in recent years, IRSTD remains a formidable task, primarily stemming from the inherently low level of signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) as well as the presence of intricate background clutter. Current models remain constrained by three critical bottlenecks: the degradation of spectral coupling between intensity and gradient information in deep layers, limited scale adaptability of static filters, and the loss of spatial precision caused by iterative downsampling. We propose GIDNet, a gradient-intensity decoupled network that balances target energy preservation and noise suppression to address the aforementioned issues. Our GIDNet architecture incorporates three core components: a gradient-intensity synergistic convolution (GISC) designed to synergistically encode intensity and gradient information for robust target enhancement; a multi-scale difference contrast (MSDC) module for scale-adaptive detection via adaptive contrast modeling; and a shallow feature projection (SFP) strategy aimed at maintaining precise spatial localization by bridging the gap between deep semantics and shallow spatial details. Comprehensive evaluations, encompassing both quantitative metrics and qualitative visualizations, consistently demonstrate the preeminence of the developed GIDNet surpassing the performance of 16 counterparts.