IMAGING SYSTEMS AND WORKFLOWS FOR DIGITIZING SOIL-ROCK CORE SAMPLES, THIN SECTIONS AND HAND SAMPLES

Conventional microscope systems have severe color, resolution, and depth-of-field limitations that interfere with the operators’ ability to make clear observations. Recent technical innovations in photography are generating contextually strong results that are more consistent with human perception than was previously experienced.

Focus stacking is the image generation technique used to generate 2D imagery and 3D models that are completely in focus, color accurate and high resolution. The mechanical process uses a motorized stage that moves the object relative to the camera. Images are automatically captured to record thin, overlapping focal sections used to create and show total depth of field for the targeted specimen. The computer process distinguishes sharp from blurry as represented by the image. The blurry areas of each image are discarded and the sharp areas are blended together until the entire image is displayed completely in focus; hence the term, focus stacking.

These technologies allow operators to non-destructively recreate visually striking images that combine the structural detail of an SEM, with the color detail of a microscope, without having to prepare or alter the specimen for analysis. Focus stacking is shown to generate more robust observations, which can be shared professionally and interpreted by larger groups of students and lay audiences.