IMAGE FUSION AND ENHANCEMENT USING TRIANGULATED IRREGULAR NETWORKS

摘要

A triangulated irregular network (TIN) is a viable structure for vector representation of raster image data. To visualize the image characterized by triangulation, it is required to fit a continuous surface of pixel brightness values in the triangulation (i.e. to interpolate data stored in its vertices). From this perspective, this paper presents a multi-frame image fusion and enhancement process that employs TIN structures rather than arrays of pixels as the original working units. The feasibility of this application relates to the fact that a TIN model offers a good quality digital image representation with a reduced density of pixel values as compared to a corresponding raster representation [4]. In the proposed process several low-resolution unregistered and compressed images (such as those extracted from a video footage) of a common scene are: (a) registered to a sub-pixel level (b) transformed to a TIN structure, (c) grouped or mapped globally within a singular framework to create a denser TIN composite, and (d) the TIN representation is used m reverse to reconstruct a higher resolution image m raster format with more details than any of the original input frames. Tests and subsequent results are shown to demonstrate the validity and accuracy of the proposed multi-frame image enhancement process. A comparison of this process of multi-frame image enhancement using various interpolation methods and practices is included.