Ridge Ending
Definition
A minutia at which a single friction ridge terminates abruptly. One of the two most common minutia types (with bifurcations). Encoded in AFIS as a point with a directional angle.
- Feature type
- Minutia
- Description
- A single friction ridge terminates abruptly
- Common pairing
- Bifurcation, the other main minutia type
- AFIS encoding
- Point location plus directional angle
Common questions
How is a ridge ending distinguished from a bifurcation when marking minutiae?+
A ridge ending is a single point where a ridge simply stops, while a bifurcation is a point where one ridge splits into two; automated systems can sometimes confuse the two on a degraded image, since one can appear as the other depending on ridge flow direction.
Why does AFIS record a directional angle for each ridge ending?+
The angle captures the local ridge flow direction at that point, which lets the matching algorithm compare not just the location of minutiae between two prints but also their orientation, improving match accuracy.
Related terms
- Bifurcation
- A minutia at which a single friction ridge divides into two diverging ridges. One of the two most common minutia types (with...
- Blind Verification
- The procedure in which a second fingerprint examiner independently performs the Analysis and Comparison stages without knowledge of the first examiner's conclusion....
- Champod Minutia Frequency Study
- Empirical research by Champod and Evett (2001) characterising the frequency distributions of minutia types and spatial configurations from operational fingerprint databases, providing...
- FRStat
- The fingerprint statistical scoring model developed by the FBI Laboratory and Iowa State University (Professor Alicia Carriquiry). Takes ACE-V comparison documentation as...
- Galton Features
- The set of observable ridge events catalogued by Francis Galton in his 1892 monograph, including ridge endings, bifurcations, and enclosed formations. The...
- Lake (Enclosure)
- A minutia in which a ridge briefly splits into two and immediately re-joins, enclosing an oval space. Less common than endings and...
- Level 1 Detail
- In ACE-V, the broadest level of information extracted from a fingerprint: the overall ridge flow and pattern type (arch, loop, whorl). Level...
- Level 2 Detail
- The intermediate spatial scale: individual minutia (ridge endings, bifurcations, lakes, dots, islands, deltas, cores). Carries the principal discriminative weight in a fingerprint...
- Level 3 Detail
- The finest spatial scale: sweat pore positions, ridge edge contours, incipient ridges. Reliably interpretable only in high-quality inked or latent prints. Used...