Underwater stereo image enhancement using a new physical model

Stereo image applications are becoming more and more prevalent. However, there has been little research on stereo image enhancement. In this paper, we address the challenging problem of underwater stereo image enhancement. A new underwater imaging model is proposed and it can better describe the degradation of underwater images including color distortion and contrast attenuation. In addition, a novel observation that the intensity of the water part within the image is mainly contributed by the scattering light is also proposed. Coupling the proposed model and prior together, the parameters of scattering light can be estimated. Then an iterative approach to process stereo matching and stereo image enhancement alternatively is presented, which can significantly improve the quality of the images and depth maps. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can significantly enhance the image visibility and achieve better depth perception.