Research on polarization dehazing through the coaxial and multi-aperture polarimetric camera

Abstract

In this study, a coaxial and multi-aperture polarization imaging system was designed to obtain dehazed images under bad weather conditions, which could effectively utilize polarization information. The system can capture four polarization azimuth images simultaneously by integrating four polarizers with different transmission directions in front of the sub-apertures. The system can utilize energy of incident light effectively, as well as remain the image resolution of the camera. In order to solve the image registration problem, a translation registration method for sub-aperture polarized images was implemented, which was based on the phase-only correlation algorithm. Moreover, a polarization dehazing model suitable for this system is employed to remove the haze effect of the captured images. Further experimental data demonstrated that the system could achieve a pleasing visual effect, and its performance on image quality was certified by several objective evaluation means including the line spread function and quantified detail information. The core advantages of this system are real-time and the good image quality in terms of contrast, details, and clarity. The system can effectively adapt to the long-distance, high-resolution, and real-time imaging in bad weather conditions such as haze weather.