In this paper, a Kalman filter-based method for restoration of video images acquired by an in-vehicle camera in foggy conditions is proposed. In order to realize Kalman filter-based restoration, the proposed method clips local blocks from the target frame by using a sliding window and regards the intensities in each block as elements of the state variable of the Kalman filter. Furthermore, the proposed method designs the following two models for restoration of foggy images. The first one is an observation model, which represents a fog deterioration model. The proposed method automatically determines all parameters of the fog deterioration model from only the foggy images to design the observation model. The second one is a non-linear state transition model, which represents the target frame in the original video image from its previous frame based on motion vectors. By utilizing the observation and state transition models, the correlation between successive frames can be effectively utilized for restoration, and accurate restoration of images obtained in foggy conditions can be achieved. Experimental results show that the proposed method has better performance than that of the traditional method based on the fog deterioration model.

In this paper, an ER (Error-Reduction) algorithm-based method for removal of adherent water drops from images obtained by a rear view camera mounted on a vehicle in rainy conditions is proposed. Since Fourier-domain and object-domain constraints are needed for any ER algorithm-based method, the proposed method introduces the following two novel constraints for the removal of adherent water drops. The first one is the Fourier-domain constraint that utilizes the Fourier transform magnitude of the previous frame in the obtained images as that of the target frame. Noting that images obtained by the rear view camera have the unique characteristics of objects moving like ripples because the rear view camera is generally composed of a fish-eye lens for a wide view angle, the proposed method assumes that the Fourier transform magnitudes of the target frame and the previous frame are the same in the polar coordinate system. The second constraint is the object-domain constraint that utilizes intensities in an area of the target frame to which water drops have adhered. Specifically, the proposed method models a deterioration process of intensities that are corrupted by the water drop adhering to the rear view camera lens. By utilizing these novel constraints, the proposed ER algorithm can remove adherent water drops from images obtained by the rear view camera. Experimental results that verify the performance of the proposed method are represented.