Super-resolution of turbulent video: Potentials and limitations

A common distortion in videos acquired in long range observation systems is image instability in form of chaotic local displacements of image frames caused by fluctuations in the refraction index of the atmosphere turbulence. At the same time, such videos, which are designed to present moving objects on a stable background, contain tremendous redundancy that potentially can be used for image stabilization and perfecting provided reliable separation of stable background from true moving objects. Recently, it was proposed to use this redundancy for resolution enhancement of turbulent video through elastic registration, with sub-pixel accuracy, of segments of video frames that represent stable scenes. This paper presents results of investigation, by means of computer simulation, into how parameters of such a resolution enhancement process affect its performance and its potentials and limitations.