Infrared and Visible Image Fusion Based on a Rolling Guidance Filter

The fusion image must be made more suitable for human visual perception and the problem of a poor fusion effect caused by light and weather must be solved. Therefore, this study proposes a fusion method of visible and infrared images based on a rolling guidance filter. First, guided filtering is used to enhance the content of the visible image. Then, a rolling guidance filter is used to decompose the visible and infrared images into small-scale, large-scale, and base layers. In the process of information synthesis of large-scale layers, the weighted least square fusion rule is used to solve the problem caused by different features of visible and infrared images, and to improve the visual effect of fusion images. In the process of fusion of the base layer, the optimized fusion rule of the visual saliency map is used to reduce the loss of contrast. Finally, the large-scale, small-scale, and base layers are merged into a fused image. The experimental results show that the proposed method improves the visual effect, detail processing, and edge protection.