Processing tools for acoustic 3D images

In this chapter, a complete processing tool of use in the examination of 3D acoustic sub-bottom images has been described. The processing chain allows one to separate — from raw data — the image regions representing natural or artificial objects buried beneath the seafloor. In particular, the devised segmentation process is based on a semi-automatic “seeded” volume growing approach. The voxel classification is guided by a statistical criterion by fitting current volume histograms with an adequate probability density function. The segmented object is then analysed to extract measurements about its shape and pose and to obtain a 3D wirtual representation by VRML modelling. In addition, a pre-processing noise reduction stage and a multi-resolution data representation based on an octree approach can be applied, if necessary.

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