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Gillian Gomer
Presentation
Interpreting Particle Motion in Low-Gravity, Asteroidal Conditions with Image Processing and Analysis
University of Central Florida - Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence (2019)
  • Gillian Gomer, University of Central Florida
  • Dr. Adrienne Dove, University of Central Florida
  • Michael Fraser, University of Central Florida
  • Seamus Anderson, University of Central Florida
  • Kristen John, Johnson Space Center
  • Marc Fries, Johnson Space Center
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Abstract
Asteroids and moons are small, atmosphereless bodies with dynamic surface activity that complicates image analysis and selection of future exploration sites. To better understand the distributions of surface material (regolith), the Strata-1 experiment utilized the microgravity, vibrational environment of the International Space Station (ISS) to replicate asteroidal conditions. Image data was collected, in which we observe both times of disruptive “events” and more passive “non-events” that cause small changes. The experiment contained several types of material to simulate asteroid surfaces. Here we analyze a single tube that contained aspherical glass shards. We have written a Python routine to split the RGB image components to isolate each set of colored particles and analyze how the surface area coverage of each color varies over time within different sections of the experiment. We are able to track changes in areas dominated by particular shard color sets, and compare those results to density of shard center coordinates manually extracted for two events and two non-events. We will use this data alongside data from qualitative descriptions of the entire dataset, as well as acceleration data from the ISS, to help understand the effect of changing acceleration vectors on regolith movement patterns. This analysis will help us interpret how similar motion might occur to mix the particles on the surfaces of asteroids and small moons.
Disciplines
Publication Date
Spring April, 2019
Location
Orlando, FL
Citation Information
Gillian Gomer, Adrienne Dove, Michael Fraser, Seamus Anderson, et al.. "Interpreting Particle Motion in Low-Gravity, Asteroidal Conditions with Image Processing and Analysis" University of Central Florida - Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence (2019)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/gillian-gomer/7/