Stromatoporoid biometrics using image analysis software: A first order approach

Strommetric is a new image analysis computer program that performs morphometric measurements of stromatoporoid sponges. The program measures 15 features of skeletal elements (pillars and laminae) visible in both longitudinal and transverse thin sections. The software is implemented in C++, using the Open Computer Vision (OpenCV) library. The image analysis system distinguishes skeletal elements from sparry calcite using Otsu’s method for image thresholding. More than 150 photos of thin sections were used as a test set, from which 36,159 measurements were obtained. The software provided about one hundred times more data than the current method applied until now. The data obtained are reproducible, even if the work is repeated by different workers. Thus the method makes the biometric studies of stromatoporoids objective.