USE OF A DIGITAL IMAGE DATABASE IN DETERMINING THE FRACTAL PROPERTIES OF SOIL MICROSTRUCTURE

AN INNOVATIVE AND EFFICIENT APPROACH TO DETERMINING THE FRACTAL PROPERTIES OF SOIL MICROSTRUCTURE IS DEFINED WHICH EMPLOYS INTEGRATED DATABASE AND IMAGE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES. PHASE I ASPECTS OF THIS SBIR RESEARCH ARE PRIMARILY CONCERNED WITH DETERMINING WHETHER SOIL MICROSTRUCTURE CAN BE SUCCESSFULLY CHARACTERIZED USING FRACTALS. THE INTEGRATED DIGITAL IMAGE DATABASE APPROACH DESCRIBED IN THE PROPOSAL PROVIDES THE BASIS FOR STREAMLINED DATA REDUCTION IN PHASE I, AS WELL AS FOR DERIVING CORRELATIONS BETWEEN TEST DATA AND FRACTAL DIMENSIONS IN FOLLOW-ON WORK. BOTH OPTICAL AND ELECTRON MICROSCOPY TECHNIQUES WILL BE EMPLOYED IN EXAMINING SOIL MICROSTRUCTURES, AND THE RESULTING MAGNIFIED IMAGES WILL BE DIGITIZED AND PLACED DIRECTLY INTO A MICROCOMPUTER-BASED DATABASE. METHODS FOR DERIVING IMAGE CONTOURS AND THE RESULTING FRACTAL DIMENSIONS FROM THESE IMAGES ARE DESCRIBED, BASED UPON ENHANCEMENT OF EXISTING ANAMET-DEVELOPMENT IMAGE MANIPULATION SOFTWARE. THEREFORE, IN DETERMINING WHETHER SOIL MICROSTRUCTURE CAN BE CHARACTERIZED USING FRACTALS, ANAMET WILL ALSO BE ESTABLISHING A DATABASE OF MICROSTRUCTURL IMAGES AND SOIL PROPERTIES WHICH CAN BE DIRECTLY EXTENDED TO INCLUDE MECHANICAL TEST DATA IN FOLLOW-ON STUDIES TO ASSIST IN DEFINING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN FRACTAL DIMENSIONS AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SOILS.