Adaptive histogram equalization based fusion technique for hazy underwater image enhancement

Abstract

Degradation of underwater images is an atmospheric phenomenon which is a result of scattering and absorption of light. In this paper, we have defined a fusion based approach to enhance the visibility of underwater images. Our method uses only one single hazy image to derive the contrast improved and colour corrected versions of the original image. Further, it removes the distortion and uplifts the visibility of the distant objects in the image by applying weight maps on each of the derived inputs. We have used multi-scale fusion technique to blend the inputs and weight maps together, ensuring that each fused image contributes its most significant feature into the final image. Our technique is simple and straightforward that effectively contribute in enhancing the quality and appearance of underwater hazy images.