Correction of an image distorted by a wavy water surface: laboratory experiment

A laboratory-modeling installation for experimental investigations of light and image transfer through a wavy water surface was described. Measurements of the modulation transfer function of turbid media and a wavy surface have proved the reliability of laboratory image transfer modeling. An experiment to correct the image distortion caused by surface wave refraction of an underwater object was done using laboratory-modeling installation. A color digital camera was used to simultaneously obtain an image of the object and a glitter pattern on the surface. Processing the glitter pattern allows one to obtain the values of surface slopes at a limited number of points and to use these slopes for retrieval of image fragments. A totally corrected image is formed by accumulating the fragments. The accumulated image closely matches an original undistorted image. The experiment demonstrates that correction of image distortion produced by surface waves is possible, at least in special cases. (c) 2008 Optical Society of America.