Nighttime Image Dehazing Algorithm by Structure-Texture Image Decomposition

The non-uniform illumination and color deviation lead to the difficulty in haze removal for nighttime image. The current image dehazing methods arc mostly designed for daytime images. There arc few studies on nighttime image dehazing. Therefore, we propose a new nighttime image dehazing method based on the structure-texture image decomposition model. Firstly, the haze image is divided into a structure layer and a texture layer. Secondly, to estimate and then optimize the initial atmospheric light, the median filter and the weighted norm L-1 regularization model arc introduced in the structure layer. After that, dehazing and color correction arc performed. Thirdly, the transmittance is estimated with discrete cosine transform coefficients in the texture layer. Finally, the ultimate haze-free image is recomposed with the texture layer and the haze-free structure layer. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is effective in the nighttime haze image processing, generating haze-free images with clear details and natural colors.