Bathymetric side-scan backscatter map restoration based on data fusion

Backscatter image mosaics frequently suffer from noticeable visual artifacts and missing regions, which reduce the performance of subsequent feature extraction or classification processes. In this paper, a new fusion-based method for the restoration of bathymetric side-scan backscatter images is presented. First, the values of missing backscatter pixels are estimated using contextual information provided by the underlying bathymetry mesh. As a final step, a histogram regularization process is performed to remove intensity artifacts caused by inaccurate compensation of sensor gain. Restoration results are presented for Simrad EM12S images.