Nuclear Test Film Analysis

"Nuclear ejecta are the earth particulates launched into the air by the cratering of a nuclear detonation that eventually hit the ground. This phenomenon within nuclear weapons effects has eluded detailed description for decades due to limitations of understanding compacted inhomogeneous material fracturing. Understanding the evolution of nuclear ejecta as a function of angle, size, and velocity over time is critical to the advancement of nuclear weapons effects research. With the recent digitization of nuclear testing films, scientists are investigating if image analysis techniques can be applied to these films to characterize the time evolution of three coupled variables that were previously thought to be unquantifiable. This investigation employs image analysis methods such as RGB color separation, Otsu, and Yen thresholding, and information entropy calculations to enhance the images and isolate the ejecta. We expect to see the ejecta follow a ballistic trajectory with drag and erosive surface shedding affecting the velocity."