X-ray image processing and analyses, 3.0 credits

The course is fully booked! No more applications will be handled for this years course.

X-ray imaging provides the means of significant advancements in life and geosciences since it allows for non-invasive structural investigations of opaque objects and systems, of which soil is a prime example. Prices for industrial X-ray scanning systems have decreased in recent years while their imaging performance has improved. X-ray imaging will therefore likely become a standard method in many subject areas of relevance to SLU. A state-of-the-art industrial X-ray scanner is also available at the Department of Soil and Environment at the SLU campus in Uppsala. Although the techniques taught in the course are general, all examples will be on undisturbed soil samples.
3-D image reconstruction from raw X-ray data is largely standardized and automatized. Instead, it is the extraction of information from the X-ray images which requires training. This PhD course will present, discuss and give hands-on training in common techniques needed to evaluate 3-D high-resolution image data. The main topics are i) artifact and noise removal from X-ray images, ii) image segmentation methods, and iii) morphological measures for characterizing 3-D structures. The course will rely on the open-source software bundle FIJI (ImageJ). Software specific features such as creating 3-D animations and automation of operation with macros will also be covered.
In the last third of the course, the participants will apply the techniques they have learned to investigate the relationship between the pore morphology quantified on individual soil samples and their measured hydraulic conductivities.