An apparatus, comprising: a non-transitory memory storing machine-readable instructions; and a processor; characterized in that the processor facilitates the execution of machine-readable instructions to: fuse different bands of the dual-band image sensor data using wavelet-based image fusion to generate the L* component of an {L*, a*, b*} color space placeholder image; generate the a* and b* components of the placeholder image by: generating an {R, G, B} visible color space temporary image having red, green, and blue channels, wherein the red channel of the temporary image is created from one band of the dual-band image sensor, the green channel of the temporary image is created from the other band of the dual-band image sensor, and the blue channel of the temporary image is created from either the product of the two bands of the dual-band image sensor or the ratio of the two bands of the dual-band image sensor; generating the a* component of the placeholder image as a function of the red and green channels of the temporary image; and generating the b* component of the placeholder image as a function of the red, green, and blue channels of the temporary image; and converting the placeholder image to an {R, G, B} visible color space output image having red, green, and blue channels, wherein the red channel of the output image is created as the sum of the L* component and the sum of 1/2 times the a* component and 1/3 times the b* component, the green channel of the output image is created as the difference between the L* component and the sum of 1/2 times the a* component and 1/3 times the b* component, and the blue channel of the output image is created as the difference between the L* component and 2/3 times the b* component. a non-transitory memory storing machine-readable instructions; and a processor; fuse different bands of the dual-band image sensor data using wavelet-based image fusion to generate the L* component of an {L*, a*, b*} color space placeholder image; generate the a* and b* components of the placeholder image by: generating an {R, G, B} visible color space temporary image having red, green, and blue channels, wherein the red channel of the temporary image is created from one band of the dual-band image sensor, the green channel of the temporary image is created from the other band of the dual-band image sensor, and the blue channel of the temporary image is created from either the product of the two bands of the dual-band image sensor or the ratio of the two bands of the dual-band image sensor; generating the a* component of the placeholder image as a function of the red and green channels of the temporary image; and generating the b* component of the placeholder image as a function of the red, green, and blue channels of the temporary image; and generating an {R, G, B} visible color space temporary image having red, green, and blue channels, wherein the red channel of the temporary image is created from one band of the dual-band image sensor, the green channel of the temporary image is created from the other band of the dual-band image sensor, and the blue channel of the temporary image is created from either the product of the two bands of the dual-band image sensor or the ratio of the two bands of the dual-band image sensor; generating the a* component of the placeholder image as a function of the red and green channels of the temporary image; and generating the b* component of the placeholder image as a function of the red, green, and blue channels of the temporary image; and converting the placeholder image to an {R, G, B} visible color space output image having red, green, and blue channels, wherein the red channel of the output image is created as the sum of the L* component and the sum of 1/2 times the a* component and 1/3 times the b* component, the green channel of the output image is created as the difference between the L* component and the sum of 1/2 times the a* component and 1/3 times the b* component, and the blue channel of the output image is created as the difference between the L* component and 2/3 times the b* component.