Exploring underwater target detection by imaging polarimetry and correlation techniques

Dubreuil Matthieu (1) , Delrot Paul (1) , Isabelle Leonard (1) , Ayman Alfalou (1) , Christian Brosseau (2) , Aristide Dogariu (3)

1 equipe Vision
2 Lab-STICC_UBO_MOM_MF
3 CREOL - Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers

Underwater target detection is investigated by combining active polarization imaging and optical correlation-based approaches. Experiments were conducted in a glass tank filled with tap water with diluted milk or seawater and containing targets of arbitrary polarimetric responses. We found that target estimation obtained by imaging with two orthogonal polarization states always improves detection performances when correlation is used as detection criterion. This experimentally study illustrates the potential of polarization imaging for underwater target detection and opens interesting perspectives for the development of underwater imaging systems.

Mots clés: Pattern recognition; Imaging through turbid media; Polarimetric imaging

Domaines: Traitement du signal et de l'image [eess.SP]; Traitement du signal et de l'image [eess.SP]; Optique / photonique

Dubreuil Matthieu, Delrot Paul, Isabelle Leonard, Ayman Alfalou, Christian Brosseau, et al.. Exploring underwater target detection by imaging polarimetry and correlation techniques. Applied optics, 2013, 52 (5), pp.997-1005. ⟨10.1364/AO.52.000997⟩. ⟨hal-00788121⟩