Systems and methods for the rapid analysis of images that are particularly useful in avionic contexts are provided. One specific method describes steps of computing algorithmic complexity and/or logical depth, so as to rapidly categorize objects, comprising images and/or points of interest determined in these images, according to discrete levels of structuring, organization or order. Complex image processing operations may then concern restricted subsections of the images. The complexity or logical depth computing operations may for example comprise steps of losslessly compressing the objects row by row and/or column by column, of determining statistical distributions of the compression rates of these objects, of determining one or more scores on the basis of the compression rates or of statistical moments and of locally or globally categorizing one or more received images. Developments describe system and software aspects.