Performance Optimizations for an Automatic Target Generation Process in Hyperspectral Analysis

Hyperspectral sensors acquire images with hundreds of spectral channels. These images have a lot of information in both spectral and spatial domain, and with this kind of information different research studies can be accomplished. In this work, we present several optimizations for hyperspectral image processing algorithms intended to detect targets in hyperspectral images. The hyperspectral image selected for our study was collected by the NASAs Airborne Visible Infra-Red Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) over the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York, five days after September 11th attack. The algorithm used in our experiments is the automated target generation process (ATGP) and our optimizations comprise parallel versions of the algorithm developed using open multi-processing (OpenMP) and message passing interface (MPI). Our experiments indicate that the ATGP can be successfully implemented in parallel in multicore and cluster computing architectures, including Intel Xeon Phi.