Automatic reconstruction of polycrystalline ice microstructure from image analysis: application to the EPICA ice core at Dome Concordia, Antarctica

A digital image-processing approch is proposed which allows the extraction of two-dimensional polycristalline ice microstructure (grain boundaries) from thin sections observed between cross-polarisers. It is based on image segmentation of colour images. The method is applied to the preliminary analy...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gay, M., Weiss, J.
Other Authors: CEMAGREF GRENOBLE ETGR, LABORATOIRE DE GLACIOLOGIE CNRS GRENOBLE
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 1999
Subjects:
Online Access:https://irsteadoc.irstea.fr/cemoa/PUB00007957
Description
Summary:A digital image-processing approch is proposed which allows the extraction of two-dimensional polycristalline ice microstructure (grain boundaries) from thin sections observed between cross-polarisers. It is based on image segmentation of colour images. The method is applied to the preliminary analysis of the shallow (Holocene) ice of the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) ice core at Dome Concordia. Structural parameters, such as the mean cross-sectional area, shape anisotropy and grain morphology, are obtained. The interest and limitations of this automatic procedure are discussed. / L'approche par analyse d'images numériques proposée dans ce travail, permet d'obtenir des microstructures en deux dimensions de la glace polycristalline (joints de grain), observée au travers d'une lame mince éclairée en lumière polarisée. Cette approche est basée sur la segmentation des images en couleur. La méthode est appliquée aux premières analyses de la glace peu profonde (Holocène) de Dôme Concordia obtenue grâce au forage Européen EPICA (European Project fior Ice Coring in Antarctica ). A plusieurs profondeurs , les paramètres de structure, comme l'aire moyenne des cristaux, l'anisotropie des formes et la morphologie des cristaux sont mesurés. L'intérêt et la limitation de cette analyse automatique sont discutés.