在水下环境中, 悬浮的散射颗粒对光场的散射和吸收作用导致成像清晰度显著下降。基于偏振成像的水下图像复原技术是实现水下清晰成像的有效方法之一。该技术利用散射光的偏振特性, 分离场景光和散射光, 估计散射光强和透射系数, 实现成像清晰化。近年来, 偏振成像技术已广泛、高效地应用于水下图像复原和水下目标识别等诸多领域。水下偏振图像复原技术作为光学成像技术和图像处理技术的交叉领域, 引起了广泛的关注并取得了大量优秀的研究成果。文中主要介绍了基于偏振成像的水下复原技术的基本原理、偏振信息处理方法和最新发展现状, 综述了近年来偏振水下图像复原技术代表性的改进型方法。

The underwater imaging could be severely degraded by the particles in the water due to the backscatter veiling and signal attenuation. The polarimetric image recovery method is one of the most effective way to enhance the quality of underwater imaging. Based on the polarization property, the polarimetric method can separate the target intensity from the backscattering, estimate the intensity of backscattering and medium transmittance, and then realize clear imaging. In recent years, polarimetric imaging technique has been applied to many fields more efficiently and extensively, such as underwater image restoration and target recognition, etc. As an intersection of optical imaging technique and image processing technique, the polarimetric recovery method for image restoration has aroused a wide concern and gained fruitful research results. In this paper, we mainly introduced the basic principle of underwater image restoration technique based on polarimetric imaging and the methods of polarization information processing. We also reviewed the recent advances of representative improved approaches in underwater image restoration technique based on polarimetric imaging.