Flame front matching and tracking in PLIF images using geodesic paths and level sets

This paper treats the problem of tracking contours of flames captured by PLIF imaging using geodesic paths and level sets. Successive images of the combustion process captured in controlled experiments are smoothed by nonlinear diffusion filtering then active contour models are used to obtain the curves that most accurately describe the frame boundary. These curves are matched using the concept of shortest path (geodesic) computation on a cost surface. The level set representation is employed so that complex curve evolutions including those with topological changes in their structures could be handled. A critical point detection algorithm is used to identify important curve landmarks that are then used to modify the cost surface so as to improve the quality and stability of the matching. Accordingly, the propagation of curves representing successive flame contours within a sequence is obtained and used for studying the flame dynamics.