Anisotropy

Anisotropy

Anisotropy is measured by ‘exact proportion’ Length-scale anisotropy of relief (epLsar). The graphs below shows mean values of epLsar for eight primate species at two different scales (Scott et al., 2005a: page 125).

“Exact Proportion” Length-Scale Anisotropy Relief

Lsar is a measure of anisotropy derived from a series of relative length (relL) measures taken at a different orientations for a given scale of observation.

Relative lengths taken at different orientations can be normalized by dividing them by the sum of relative lengths from all orientations. (‘exact proportion’ normalization)

Each normalized relative length can be paired with its direction and treated as a vector.

These vectors can be displayed in a rosette.

The length of the mean vector for a given rosette is epLsar.

Anisotropy Rosette Plot