Areal Form Removal

This chapter deals with areal form removal, one of the basic operations in areal surface texture analysis, and relies on determining an associated feature from a set of data points, the primary extracted surface. The three main components for form removal are discussed: measures of distance from a point to a surface (or ideal associated feature), fitting criteria to determine the best-fit surface, and the form removal operator. Uncertainty evaluation associated with form removal is also discussed. The chapter considers special issues associated with areal form removal, with detailed descriptions of plane and spherical form removal operations. Approaches to removing more general forms are also discussed.