Patterns produced when soil is transferred to bras by placing and dragging actions: The application of digital photography and image processing to support visible observations

摘要

A series of soil transference experiments (STEs) were undertaken to determine whether patterns identified in laboratory experiments could also be recognised at a simulated crime scene in the field. A clothed 55 kg human rescue dummy dressed in a padded bra was either dragged or merely placed on a soil surface at sites with natural and anthropogenic soil types under both wet and dry soil conditions. Transfer patterns produced by dragging compared favourably with those of laboratory experiments. Twelve patterns were identified when a clothed human rescue dummy was dragged across the two soil types in the field. This expanded the original set of eight soil transfer patterns identified from dragging weighted fabric across soil samples in the laboratory.