A Novel Image Fusion Algorithm for Visible and PMMW Images based on Clustering and NSCT

Abstract

Aiming at the fusion of visible and Passive Millimeter Wave (PMMW) images, a novel algorithm based on clustering and NSCT (Nonsubsampled Contourlet Transform) is proposed. It takes advantages of the particular ability of PMMW image in presenting metal target and uses the clustering algorithm for PMMW image to extract the potential target regions. In the process of fusion, NSCT is applied to both input images, and then the decomposition coefficients on different scale are combined using different rules. At last, the fusion image is obtained by taking the inverse NSCT of the fusion coefficients. Some methodologies are used to evaluate the fusion results. Experiments demonstrate the superiority of the proposed algorithm for metal target detection compared to wavelet transform and Laplace transform.