General-Purpose Stereo Imaging Velocimetry

An improved and expanded method of stereo imaging velocimetry (SIV) for diagnosing three-dimensional flows of gases, liquids, and other fluids involves the use of standard charge-coupled-device cameras positioned orthogonally to each other. In addition to providing a full-field, quantitative, three-dimensional map of any optically transparent flow seeded with tracer particles, this SIV method incorporates a camera-calibration technique, in which rotation and translation of camera lenses and optical distortion generated in the lenses are taken into account by use of an accurate two-dimensional-to-three-dimensional mapping function.