APPLICATION OF KALMAN FILTER TO 3-DIMENSIONAL FLOW MEASURING SYSTEM BASED ON DIGITAL IMAGE-PROCESSING

An alternative method for particle tracking, which is needed in PIV (particle imaging velocimetry), has been developed by applying the Kalman filter. The method improves the precision in measurements of particle positions and of their velocity components.- Using this method, it becomes possible to track each particle during more than hundreds of time steps. These effects and the propriety of the applied Kalman filter estimator are proved experimentally by calibrating the behavior of particles which are fixed on a rotating disk. Moreover, the method enables us to acquire data from individual tracer particles in a three-dimensional unsteady flow field.