How to correct for horizontal lines in an image

Hi,

I am new to image processing and I would like to know how I should correct for a set of horizontal lines (noise) in my image, I mean which Kerenel should I use. I would like the features in the image to be least modified as I need to extract some parameters such as surface roughness from the image (Atomic force miscroscopy image to be precise) and hence I believe a Gaussian filter is not suitable. Could anyone help?

[Walter Roberson]

http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/7924-where-can-i-upload-images-and-files-for-use-on-matlab-answers

Answer 1

[Image Analyst]

It depends on what the lines look like. Convolving with Gaussian kernel would not help. Why are the lines there in the first place? Is your camera defective? Can you contact your instrument manufacturer - perhaps there is something out of adjustment. If it is an expected, but unavoidable, artifact of your imaging process then your instrument manufacturer will probably have some software to correct for it. If the lines are there because of something in your scene and you need to get rid of them then you'll need to filter. But it depends on what they look like. If they're just pure 255 all the way across then you can just replace the line with the average of the pixel above and below the bad pixel. You'd need to post an image for me to give any better advice. It's hard to give image processing advice without any images.

Answer 2

[Chandni]

Hi, The image is not taken via a camera. This is an Atomic force microscopy image where in the image is taken by scanning a tiny tip through the surface of interest and you get features of the order of a nm or even below. So any vibration or electrical noise can lead to the kind of features that I have and they are at times inevitable. For your reference, I can attach a sample image.