Efficient intensity-hue-saturation-based image fusion with saturation compensation

The intensity-hue-saturation (IHS) and Brovey transforms are two widespread image fusion methods in the remote sensing community. However, both are se nsitive to the characteristics of the analyzed area. Restated, they often f ace color distortion problems with fused images. This work investigates mod els representing the color space in images. Schemes governing saturation ch ange during fusion are also evaluated to derive the correct saturation valu es for each pixel in a fused image. In addition, algorithms that compensate distorted saturation values for distinct image fusion methods are derived and discussed. Methods to extend current image fusion methods to any arbitr ary order are also outlined. Finally, an illustrative example of a fused SP OT image demonstrates the color distortion problem while an IKONOS image is adopted to evaluate various contemporary image fusion methods. (C) 2001 So ciety of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.