Research on the detection probability curve characteristics of long-range target based on SPAD array lidar

•A detection probability model for detecting long-range target using SPAD array lidar is established, which considers the influence of the difference of target surface structural characteristics (distance and pose) and reflection characteristics (reflectivity and cross-sectional area).•Based on the finite element analysis method, this model can calculate the detection probability when the target surface has the above characteristics difference.•The feature vector composed of the detection probability curve features (FWHM, skewness, and total detection probability) can be used to identify the pixels containing target surfaces with different distances.•Experimental results show that the image based on feature vector clustering is better than traditional algorithm.