Complexity
Measuring Complexity
Complexity is measured by Area-scale fractal complexity (Asfc). This graph shows mean values of Asfc for eight primate species (Scott et al., 2005a: page 125).
Area Scale Fractal Complexity
• Asfc is a measure of complexity derived from a series of relative area (relA) measures at different scales. [Animation of area-scale tiling]
• Asfc is the slope of a line fit to the steepest part of a curve of relA versus log(Scale) multiplied by -1000. [Animation of Asfc calculation]
• The steepest part of this curve is generally calculated for a range of 1, 2 or 3 orders of magnitude.
• Asfc is related to the fractal dimension (D) of the surface.
• Asfc is an ASME standard.
• High values for Asfc signal greater complexity as relA changes more over the scales of interest.
Relative Area
Fractal Dimension
