Resolution enhancement in active underwater polarization imaging with modulation transfer function analysis

Abstract

Active polarization imaging technology is a convenient and promising method for imaging in a scattering medium such as fog and turbid water. However, few studies have investigated the influence of polarization on the resolution in underwater imaging. This paper reports on the effects of polarization detection on the resolution of underwater imaging by using active polarization imaging technology. An experimental system is designed to determine the influence under various polarization and water conditions. The modulation transfer function is introduced to estimate the resolution variations at different spatial frequencies. Results show that orthogonal detection supplies the best resolution compared with other polarization directions in the turbid water. The performance of the circular polarization method is better than the linear process. However, if the light propagates under low scattering conditions, such as imaging in clean water or at small optical thickness, the resolution enhancement is not sensitive to the polarization angles.