---
language: en
license: cc-by-4.0
pretty_name: DCSkyCam Helicopter Classification Dataset
tags:
- image-classification
- helicopter
- aviation
- computer-vision
task_categories:
- image-classification
size_categories:
- 1K<n<10K
---

# DCSkyCam Helicopter Classification Dataset

This dataset contains cropped images of helicopters and non-helicopter objects captured by the DCSkyCam - a Raspberry Pi-based webcam in Washington, DC. The images were used to train binary and multi-class helicopter classification models using transfer learning from EfficientNet.

## Dataset Description

The DCSkyCam system used a three-stage detection pipeline:
1. **Object Detection** (SSD MobileNet V3) identifies candidate objects in the sky
2. **Binary Classifier** determines if a candidate is a helicopter or not
3. **Multi-class Classifier** identifies the specific helicopter type

This dataset contains the cropped images used for stages 2 and 3.

### Image Format
- **Format:** JPEG (cropped from full-frame)
- **Typical size:** Pixel sizes vary depending on MobileNet bounding box output. Most have at least 1 axis >= 100px.
- **Total images:** 8,100

### Metadata Columns

| Column | Description |
|--------|-------------|
| `file_name` | Image filename (relative path within `train/`) |
| `helicopter_type` | `"helicopter"` or `"not_helicopter"` |
| `heli_subtype` | Helicopter type code (e.g., `"UH1N"`, `"AS350"`) or `"none"` for non-helicopters |

### Class Distribution

**Helicopter Types:**
5,153 images

| Type | Count | Type | Count |
|------|-------|------|-------|
| UH1N | 1,920 | MH65 | 717 |
| AS350 | 895 | B412 | 451 |
| H60 | 451 | EC35 | 126 |
| VH3D | 194 | VH92 | 125 |
| S76 | 124 | AW139 | 59 |
| UH72 | 39 | EC45 | 26 |
| MD52 | 14 | B206 | 5 |
| AH6 | 2 | V22 | 2 |

**Non-helicopter:** 2,947 images

## Usage Notes

- The test/train/validation split is left to the user — no pre-defined splits are included.
- Data augmentation was applied during model training but is not reflected in this dataset. Users are free to apply their own augmentation.
- A small number of additional copyrighted images (<100) were used for training but are also excluded from this dataset for licensing reasons.

## License

This dataset is licensed under the [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

## Citation

```bibtex
@misc{dcskycam_classification_dataset,
  title = {DCSkyCam Helicopter Classification Dataset},
  author = {DCSkyCam contributors},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/dcskycam/helicopter-classification},
  license = {CC-BY-4.0}
}
```

## Project Information

The DCSkyCam project was an AI-enabled sky monitoring system built on Raspberry Pi that automatically detected and identified helicopters using TensorFlow Lite models.