NOTICE: Due to a lapse in annual appropriations, most of this website is not being updated. Learn more.
Form submissions will still be accepted but will not receive responses at this time. Sections of this site for programs using non-appropriated funds (such as NVLAP) or those that are excepted from the shutdown (such as CHIPS and NVD) will continue to be updated.
An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Theodore V. Vorburger, Jun-Feng Song, Wei Chu, Li Ma, Xiaoyu A. Zheng, Thomas B. Renegar, Son H. Bui
Abstract
We describe several examples where we use cross-correlation functions to quantify the similarity of 2D surface profiles or of 3D surface topography images. The applications have included 1) the manufacture of Standard Reference Material (SRM) bullets and casings, 2) methods to assess whether bullets or casings have been fired by the same firearm, 3) research to quantify similarities or differences between profiles of the same surface measured by different techniques or between a master surface and its replicas, and 4) an image stitching approach for linewidth measurement with atomic force microscopy. The cross-correlation maximum is the functional parameter used to quantify similarity. A second parameter, called the relative profile difference for 2D or relative topography difference for 3D, may also be used to quantify differences and to recognize the ambiguous condition when two results have different vertical (Z-) scales but identical shapes. The instruments used in these studies have included stylus instruments, a Nipkow-disk type confocal microscope, and an interferometric microscope. Most of these examples have been applied in support of ballistics inspection methods in crime labs, but the methods are generally useful for estimating the accuracy of surface replication techniques or the ability of different surface topography instruments to measure the same surface and provide the same result. Cross-correlation functions may also be used to assess differences resulting from the use of different filters to modify the same surface profile or topography image.
Vorburger, T.
, Song, J.
, Chu, W.
, Ma, L.
, Zheng, X.
, Renegar, T.
and Bui, S.
(2010),
Applications of Cross-Correlation Functions, Wear, [online], https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2010.03.030
(Accessed October 9, 2025)