Fractal Texture Enhancement of Simulated Infrared Images Using a CNN-Based Neural Style Transfer Algorithm with a Histogram Matching Technique

Here, we propose a CNN-based infrared image enhancement method to transform pseudo-realistic regions of simulation-based infrared images into real infrared texture. The proposed algorithm consists of the following three steps. First, target infrared features based on a real infrared image are extracted through pretrained VGG-19 networks. Next, by implementing a neural style-transfer algorithm to a simulated infrared image, fractal nature features from the real infrared image are progressively applied to the image. Therefore, the fractal characteristics of the simulated image are improved. Finally, based on the results of fractal analysis, peak signal-to-noise (PSNR), structural similarity index measure (SSIM), and natural image quality evaluator (NIQE) texture evaluations are performed to know how the simulated infrared image is properly transformed as it contains the real infrared fractal features. We verified the proposed methodology using a simulation with three different simulation conditions with a real mid-wave infrared (MWIR) image. As a result, the enhanced simulated infrared images based on the proposed algorithm have better NIQE and SSIM score values in both brightness and fractal characteristics, indicating the closest similarity to the given actual infrared image. The proposed image fractal feature analysis technique can be widely used not only for the simulated infrared images but also for general synthetic images.