RUDIE: Robust approach for underwater digital image enhancement

Abstract

Processing underwater digital images is critical in ocean engineering, biology, and environmental studies, focusing on challenges such as poor lighting, image de-scattering, and color restoration. Due to environmental conditions on the sea floor, improving image contrast and clarity is essential for underwater navigation and obstacle avoidance. Particularly in turbid, low-visibility waters, we require robust computer vision techniques and algorithms. Over the past decade, various models for underwater image enrichment have been proposed to address quality and visibility issues under dynamic and natural lighting conditions. This research article aims to evaluate various image improvement methods and propose a robust model that improves image quality, addresses turbidity, and enhances color, ultimately improving obstacle avoidance in autonomous systems. The proposed model demonstrates high accuracy compared to traditional models. The result analysis indicates the proposed model produces images with greatly improved visibility and exceptional color accuracy. Furthermore, research can unlock new possibilities for underwater exploration, monitoring, and intervention by advancing the state-of-the-art models in this domain.