Novel multi-sensor image fusion method

An improved image fusion algorithm based on wavelet transform and a novel evaluation criterion for image fusion are presented. The image is decomposed into high-frequency image and low-frequency image firstly. The maximum absolute value within the window of high-frequency image is used as an activity measure associated with the center pixel to get the fused high-frequency image. The quality of the blocks within the low-frequency image is measured to determine the center pixel of the fused low-frequency image. The inverse transformation is performed to get the fused image at last. The proposed algorithm is verified to be effective for image fusion because the information, the clarity and the contrast of the fused image are all improved. At the same time, the mutual variance is proposed as one of the objective evaluation criteria for the fused image and is proved to be feasible in image fusion.