Boundary shape

[Christian Goltz]

"C.D.Lloyd" wrote:
> 
...
> 
> My colleague is looking for software that will characterise the
> complexity of the boundary of an area. That is, if the boundary of an
> area had very `wiggledy' complex edges then it would be distinct from an
> area of which the edges were very smooth. The ultimate aim is to
> describe and compare the shape of different boundaries of enclosed areas
> derived from an interpretation of remotely-sensed imagery.
> 
> I assume that a fractal-based approach would be a viable way to approach
> this problem. I am wondering, therefore, if anyone is aware of any GRASS
> programs, or indeed other software, that might be suitable for this purpose.
> 
Hi Chris,

if he could output the boundary as an ASCII file consisting of
coordinate pairs,
he could run fd3 on this. Just do a (archie)search for "fd3". Some
people don't
like fd3 because it's based on box-counting but in this case it should
be perfect.
And it's VERY fast. Btw., yes, fd3 estimates fractal dimensions.

Regards,

Christian

Dr. Christian Goltz 
Institut fuer Geowissenschaften, Abt. Geophysik, Univ. Kiel
Olshausenstr. 40 - 60, D-24098 Kiel, Germany
Tel. +49-431-880-3881, Fax -4432, mailto:goltz at geophysik.uni-kiel.de
http://www.geophysik.uni-kiel.de/goltz/