Image enhancement using stochastic resonance [sonar image processing applications]

This paper presents an image enhancement method using stochastic resonance (SR) and provides two applications to sonar image processing., i.e. side-scan sonar image and bearing-time record. Simulated and real data are tested and the results show that the proposed method is suitable for noisy images with very low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), when the texture of the object is not subtle, and the region where the object lies in is not too small compared to the minimal region coverage over which SR works. We also show that an additional amount of noise besides the noise of the image itself may be helpful in enhancing the image.