Version 1.0

1/10/2012
Kenrick Mock, University of Alaska Anchorage
Jeffrey Amato, New Mexico State University
Julian Bertmaring, University of Alaska Anchorage

Program concept by Sunny Remmy
(Porosity Calculator for Digital Thin Section Photomicrograph; Water Management for Mining - Alaska Miners Association 2008 Annual Convention)

GeoPixelCounter is a Java-based program that can be used to estimate the the percentage of various minerals in a thin section of rock that has been digitally scanned into an image file. The program allows the user to click on a pixel in the image and then all other pixels that are close in color to the clicked-upon pixel will be changed to a new, easily visible color. A slider allows the user to adjust the degree of closeness between the clicked-upon color and the other pixels. For a thin section, the user would click on a grain and then other grains with the same properties will be colored in. A percentage of pixels for each selection is also computed.

The program also facilitates the identification of minerals such as zircons on a grain mount from a back-scatter image. The image to the right is a screenshot from the program that shows a mount with only a few zircons that have been colored purple after clicking on a standard. The resulting image could then be used to find zircons during an analytical session.

Running GeoPixelCounter

To run the program you must be connected to the Internet and have a computer with Java 1.5 or higher. To run the program you must have suitable images on your local computer. You can save the following sample image as a test.

Click on the "Launch" icon to run the program.

You may be warned that the application's digital signature cannot be verified. This is not due to any hacking attempt but simply because we self-signed the application (i.e. we did not purchase a Java code signing certificate). To run the program, run the "Java" application in your control panel/system preferences. Under "Security" click on "Edit Site List" button in the Exception Site List. Enter "http://www.math.uaa.alaska.edu". You should now be able to run the applet, although you will have to click the button to acknowledge the lowered level of security.

License, Citation, and Future Work

The program and source code may be freely used or modified under the terms of the BSD License. Please acknowledge "GeoPixelCounter v. 1.0 by Mock et al. (2012)" or if a citation is required:

Known missing features/bugs:

Bugs or technical issues: kenrick@uaa.alaska.edu Recommendations for improvements: amato@nmsu.edu 9727 hits since Jan 11, 2012