Stereo Matching For Lunar Surface Reconstruction With An Improved Census Cost

The 3D reconstruction of the lunar surface is a fundamental task, with stereo matching algorithms play a crucial role. The cornerstone of stereo matching is the computation of the matching cost, a step that significantly influences the ultimate result. In this paper, an improved census cost computation method is proposed and integrated in the Semi-Global Matching(SGM), which incorporates two-bit string to encode the relationship between pixels and ternary operator combined with an adaptive threshold. In this way, the matching robustness at depth discontinuities can be effectively improved and is particularly suitable for the case of multiple craters on the lunar surface. Experimental results show that the proposed method can greatly improve the matching results at lunar craters.