Combining background subtraction and three-frame difference to detect moving object from underwater video

Moving object detection is the basis of object tracking and classification in computer vision, which has been applied to underwater robots to execute underwater missions and do marine ecological research. The complicated scene and poor lighting condition in underwater environment usually make moving object detection difficult. To solve above problems and to detect moving object from underwater video, we propose an approach combining background subtraction and three-frame difference. In this method, firstly we detect moving object pixels by background subtraction and three-frame difference perspectively. Next, we perform "AND" operation on the results of background subtraction and three-frame difference, background subtraction provides the object information to supplement the incomplete information detected from three-frame difference. Lastly, morphology processing is utilized on the result to remove the noise caused by non-static objects in background. This method shows an effective and reliable performance in detecting moving object from underwater video.