Digital-image processing and image analysis of glacier ice
Techniques and Methods
7-D1
This report is Chapter 1 of Section D: Digital-image processing in Book 7 Automated Data Processing and Computations
By: Joan J. Fitzpatrick
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Abstract
This document provides a methodology for extracting grain statistics from 8-bit color and grayscale images of thin sections of glacier ice—a subset of physical properties measurements typically performed on ice cores. This type of analysis is most commonly used to characterize the evolution of ice-crystal size, shape, and intercrystalline spatial relations within a large body of ice sampled by deep ice-coring projects from which paleoclimate records will be developed. However, such information is equally useful for investigating the stress state and physical responses of ice to stresses within a glacier. The methods of analysis presented here go hand-in-hand with the analysis of ice fabrics (aggregate crystal orientations) and, when combined with fabric analysis, provide a powerful method for investigating the dynamic recrystallization and deformation behaviors of bodies of ice in motion.
The procedures described in this document compose a step-by-step handbook for a specific image acquisition and data reduction system built in support of U.S. Geological Survey ice analysis projects, but the general methodology can be used with any combination of image processing and analysis software. The specific approaches in this document use the FoveaPro 4 plug-in toolset to Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended but it can be carried out equally well, though somewhat less conveniently, with software such as the image processing toolbox in MATLAB, Image-Pro Plus, or ImageJ.
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | Digital-image processing and image analysis of glacier ice |
| Series title | Techniques and Methods |
| Series number | 7-D1 |
| DOI | 10.3133/tm7D1 |
| Year Published | 2013 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey |
| Publisher location | Reston, VA |
| Contributing office(s) | Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center |
| Description | iv, 21 p. |
| Larger Work Type | Report |
| Larger Work Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Larger Work Title | Section D: Digital-image processing in Book 7 Automated Data Processing and Computations |
| Online Only (Y/N) | Y |
| Additional Online Files (Y/N) | N |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |