A minimum-mean-square-error filter is proposed to detect a noisy targe
t in spatially nonoverlapping background noise. In this model, both th
e background noise that is spatially nonoverlapping with the target an
d the noise that is additive to the target and the input image are con
sidered. The criterion used to design the filter is to minimize the me
an-square-error between the filter output and a delta function located
at the target position in the presence of the noise. Computer-simulat
ion results for a number of noisy input images are presented, and the
performance of the filter is determined. We also Bst the filter discri
mination against undesired objects and tolerance to target distortions
, such as rotation End scaling. (C) 1996 Optical Society of America