Underwater image color correction method based on colorless reference transfer

The invention provides an underwater image color correction method based on colorless reference transfer. The method comprises the following steps: firstly, converting an original underwater image into a CIELab color space, meanwhile, assigning pixel values of a and b channels to be zero, then, converting the original underwater image into an RGB color space, taking the RGB color space as a colorless reference image, then, assigning a pixel value of an R channel of the reference image to an R channel of a distorted image, and meanwhile, utilizing a mean value and a variance of the reference image to obtain a distorted image. And transferring the pixel values of the G and B channels to the G and B channels of the distorted image, and finally, traversing the whole image to find a background color cast area for a blue distorted image, and assigning the pixel value of the B channel to the G channel. The method has good color correction performance and good applicability for underwater images with different color