Effects of image restoration on automatic acquisition of moving objects in thermal video sequences degraded by the atmosphere

Appl Opt. 2007 Dec 20;46(36):8562-72. doi: 10.1364/ao.46.008562.

Abstract

We aim to determine the effect of image restoration (deblurring) on the ability to acquire moving objects detected automatically from long-distance thermal video signals. This is done by first restoring the videos using a blind-deconvolution method developed recently, and then examining its effect on the geometrical features of automatically detected moving objects. Results show that for modern (low-noise and high-resolution) thermal imaging devices, the geometrical features obtained from the restored videos better resemble the true properties of the objects. These results correspond to a previous study, which demonstrated that image restoration can significantly improve the ability of human observers to acquire moving objects from long-range thermal videos.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Artifacts*
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Atmosphere*
  • Image Enhancement / methods*
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Motion
  • Pattern Recognition, Automated / methods*
  • Photography / methods*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Thermography / methods*
  • Video Recording / methods*