MCU-Enhanced Underwater Image Processing

Underwater image dehazing is a critical challenge due to light absorption, scattering, and color degradation. This paper presents a comprehensive dehazing methodology combining physical modeling and image enhancement techniques. The approach begins by computing the dark channel to estimate transmission and atmospheric light, enabling accurate haze removal. A multi-scale guided filter refines the transmission map, enhancing edge preservation. Scene radiance is then recovered, followed by brightness adjustment and contrast enhancement using CLAHE in the LAB color space. To further enhance visual clarity, the method applies unsharp masking for sharpening. This pipeline effectively addresses underwater image degradation, producing dehazed images with improved visibility, contrast, and sharpness. The proposed method demonstrates significant potential for applications in underwater exploration, marine biology, and robotic vision.