Monotonic correlation analysis of image quality measures for image fusion

Abstract

The next generation of night vision goggles will fuse image intensified and long wave infra-red to create a hybrid image that will enable soldiers to better interpret their surroundings during nighttime missions. Paramount to the development of such goggles is the exploitation of image quality (IQ) measures to automatically determine the best image fusion algorithm for a particular task. This work introduces a novel monotonic correlation coefficient to investigate how well possible IQ features correlate to actual human performance, which is measured by a perception study. The paper will demonstrate how monotonic correlation can identify worthy features that could be overlooked by traditional correlation values.