On observing underwater objects through a wavy water surface: A new algorithm for image correction and laboratory experiment

The possibility of correcting refraction distortions in images of the sea bottom or an underwater object observed through a wavy water surface is studied. A fast-operating algorithm of recovering the “regular” image by its random realization and spatial distribution of surface slopes at the instant of observation has been proposed and approbated. A technique of determining surface slopes by the surface image with the following correction of the underwater object image based on the data about the surface slopes has been developed under conditions of a laboratory experiment.