AIResQ: High-resolution thermal infrared dataset for airborne person detection

AIResQ is a dataset of thermal IR images with a resolution up to 2048x1536 pixel. The dataset comprises 9,788 thermal images with 17,550 labeled persons in SAR related scenarios. The whole dataset includes images from a full annual cycle, on different times of day, within several types of terrain and different weather patterns. The number of individuals visible in each image varies between zero and fifteen.

Terms of Use:

This dataset is provided for civilian and non-military research purposes only. It is not allowed to use the data for non-civilian purposes.

Citation:

A research paper was submitted to Scientific Data. If you use the AIResQ dataset in your research or project, please cite the corresponding article. The reference will be updated on acceptance. 

Büttner et al, "High-resolution thermal infrared dataset for airborne person detection in SAR missions", submitted to Scientific Data, 2026.

@article{AIResQ_2026,    author = {Büttner, Johannes and Führer, Kilian and Fritz, Andreas and Zender, Jonathan and Pinzer, Bernd R.},    title = {High-resolution thermal infrared dataset for airborne person detection in SAR missions},    journal = {submitted to Scientific Data}, year = {2026}, doi = {10.5281/zenodo.19677785}, url = {https://zenodo.org/records/19677785}}