WLC: Weber-Inspired Local Contrast Metric for Low-Altitude Image Fusion

Infrared and visible image fusion is a pivotal technology in low-altitude Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) reconnaissance missions, enabling robust target detection and tracking by integrating thermal saliency with environmental textures. However, the advancement of fusion algorithms is hindered by a critical evaluation bottleneck. In this paper, we identify a systematic failure in traditional no-reference metrics (specifically Statistics-based and Gradient-based metrics) within complex low-light environments, termed as ``Noise Trap''. It is mathematically proven that these metrics are positively correlated with high-frequency sensor noise, paradoxically assigning higher scores to degraded images and misguiding algorithm optimization. To resolve this dilemma, this paper proposes the Weber-inspired Local Contrast (WLC) metric. Grounded in the psychophysical principle of Weber's Law, WLC shifts the evaluation paradigm from global statistical distribution to local semantic contrast. By leveraging infrared priors, it effectively decouples target saliency from global background noise. Extensive experiments on the DroneVehicle dataset demonstrate that WLC exhibits high ``Semantic Discriminability'' in distinguishing thermal targets from background clutter. Furthermore, it achieves remarkable computational efficiency, thus, establishing itself as a reliable and real-time standard for intelligent UAV systems