Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi,

I am comparing different patterns of camouflage to determine which one is more effective. How would I collect quantitative data? What equipment would I need? Would photographs be acceptable for observations?

I also want to try using different sources of light for counter illumination with my camouflage patterns. How would I collect data for this part of my experiment?

I am doing my experiment at home. This is for my 2014 - 2015 science fair.

Thanks!

Hello:

I'm not an expert on image processing, but you can search the web to find out a lot about it. Using digital photographs sounds like a good idea. You could do some simple processing with standard image editing software (some free software exists for this.) You could also do some mathematics based processing on the images, too. In searching the web I see that there is a plugin for Matlab that has standard image processing algorithms, and you may be able to do some of these types of analysis for free at Wolfram alpha.

Let us know what you find out!
Keith

Thank you for the information!