Underwater polarization‐based single pixel imaging

Abstract This paper extends single pixel imaging (SPI) to underwater scenario. Backscattering, which is a limiting factor for underwater imaging, is analyzed for the SPI, and the forward model of SPI under backscattering is formulated. Inspired by the polarization‐based descattering technique, we propose the two cross‐polarization SPI detection scheme to eliminate the backscattering light. The descattered image is reconstructed from the cross‐polarization data. Experimentally, we construct the underwater polarization‐based single‐pixel imaging system. And we test our scheme under different turbidity water. It is shown in experiments that our method can provide a clear image at turbid water of 32FTU, where the classical SPI has been severely contaminated by the backscattering, even under the best the polarization state.