Python (Cython) module implementing the serial connected component labeling (CCL) algorithm used in PISM. In addition to labeling connected components, our implementation can perform one kind of connected component analysis (CCA) needed to identify icebergs, lakes, areas connected to the open ocean, etc.

The method implemented here is very similar to the one in He et al, 2010, but using 4-connectivity.¹

@Article{He2010,
  author    = {He, Lifeng and Chao, Yuyan and Suzuki, Kenji},
  journal   = {International Journal of Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence},
  title     = {A run-based one-and-a-half-scan connected-component labeling algorithm},
  year      = {2010},
  month     = {jun},
  number    = {04},
  pages     = {557--579},
  volume    = {24},
  doi       = {10.1142/s0218001410008032},
  publisher = {World Scientific},
}

Given a threshold A, all pixels with values greater than A are interpreted as "foreground" pixels.

For a pixel p(row,col), the four pixels p(row-1,col), p(row+1,col), p(row,col-1), p(row,col+1) are called 4-neighbors of p(row,col). Two foreground pixels u and v are 4-connected if there is a sequence of foreground pixels p[0] = u, ..., p[i], p[i+1], ..., p[n] = v such that p[i+1] is a 4-neighbor of p[i] for all i.

A 4-connected component is the maximum set of foreground pixels such that any two pixels in the set are 4-connected.

This implementation has two modes:

1. Given a threshold A and defining "foreground" pixels accordingly, assign unique consecutive integer labels to all 4-connected components in the input.

2. Given thresholds A and B (A < B), define "foreground" pixels accordingly. Let a foreground pixel be "marked" if its value is greater than B. Label all foreground pixels not 4-connected to a "marked" pixel with 1, the rest with 0.

Run

python3 setup.py build_ext --inplace

to build this module "in place."

Unlike PISM's version, this code uses short int instead of double arrays to speed it up. See pism_label_components.label().

In addition to this, it also contains the helper function pism_label_components.update_max_depth() that (together with label()) can be used to estimate "ocean access depths" as in

L. Nicola, R. Reese, M. Kreuzer, T. Albrecht, and R. Winkelmann, "Oceanic gateways to Antarctic grounding lines – Impact of critical access depths on sub-shelf melt," EGUsphere, vol. 2023, pp. 1–30, 2023, doi: 10.5194/egusphere-2023-2583.

See max_depth.py. The function update_max_depth() would be just as easy to write in Python, but this version (in Cython) is significantly faster.

Footnotes

1. There are so many variations of CCL algorithms that it's hard to find a citation that is a perfect fit. ↩