This thesis documents a research project that has used computer graphics techniques to reconstruct a set of three-dimensional surfaces from a set of two-dimensional sectional drawings. The work has concentrated on the successful reconstruction of palaeontological specimens, such as brachiopods and early land plants. The reconstruction process is based around a two-stage system. First, the underlying topology of each object is determined automatically using the CorresGrow algorithm, which calculates the correspondence between adjacent sections, many of which have complex contour relationships. Unlike previous solutions, CorresGrow can locate solutions for objects that have multiple, disjoint components. The second stage triangulates the three-dimensional surface using the information provided by the correspondence algorithm. Depending on the similarity in shape of a pair of adjacent contours, the algorithm uses either the original contour vertices or those from the convex hull to perform the surface construction. The other aspects of the project work have looked at the implications of using computer graphics techniques for palaeontological reconstruction. This effects the way in which the data are sampled and digitised so that it is suitable for reconstruction. Using computer graphics also means that the reconstructed models can be used for more than visualisation, in areas such as evolutionary and temporal modelling.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:295272 |
| Date | January 1995 |
| Creators | Herbert, Malcolm James |
| Contributors | Tudhope, Douglas |
| Publisher | University of South Wales |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://pure.southwales.ac.uk/en/studentthesis/computerbased-serial-section-reconstruction-of-earth-science-data(411bdf61-1f0a-4533-b767-75a9c96abea0).html |
Page generated in 0.0025 seconds