Compression of functions defined on surfaces of 3D objects

Abstract

We present a technique to compress scalar functions defined on 2-manifolds. Our approach combines discrete wavelet transforms with zerotree compression, building on ideas from three previous developments: the lifting scheme, spherical wavelets, and embedded zerotree coding methods. Applications lie in the efficient storage and rapid transmission of complex data sets. Typical data sets are Earth topography, satellite images, and surface parametrizations. Our contribution is the novel combination and application of these techniques to general 2-manifolds.