Vector field analysis for oriented patterns

A method based on the properties of orientation fields is presented for the estimation of a set of symbolic descriptors from nondegenerate linear orientation fields, modeled by two-dimensional first-order phase portraits. It was previously shown that flow orientation is sufficient to characterize a flow pattern and locate its critical point position. A linear estimator is designed to estimate nondegenerate phase portraits. A classification scheme based on their local properties-curl, divergence, and deformation-is developed. Some experimental results are reported