Version	1	/	Date	of	Issue:	10.29.15	/	Issuing	Authority:	Forensic	Science	Standards	Board	(FSSB)

OSAC	Research	Needs Assessment Form

Title	of	research	need:

Keywords:

Submitting subcommittee(s): Date	Approved:

(If	SAC	review	identifies	additional	subcommittees,	add	them	to	the	box	above.)

Background	information:

1.	 Description	of	research	need:

2.	 Key	bibliographic	references	relating	to	this	research	need:

(1)	Develop	additional	or	refine	existing	models	that	provide	an	assessment	of	the	discriminating	

strength	of	features (friction	ridge	skin	structures) used	during examination.		(2)	Assess the	weight	

given to	friction	ridge	skin damage such	as	cuts,	abrasions,	scars,	creases,	warts	and	blisters	in	

friction	ridge	examination.	(3)	Research	quantification	of	sufficiency	that	must	be	measured	in	

order	to	support	examination	decisions,	including	simultaneity.	(4)	Develop	tools	to	assist	the	

examiner	measuring	localized quality	of	friction	ridge	features during	the	analysis	stage.	(5)	

Develop	mechanisms	to	interpret	and	assign	weights	to	discrepancies	observed	during	the	

comparison	process.	Research	in	this	area	should	study	the	distortion	of	the	friction	ridge	skin	

when	applied	with	various	forces	and	movements	on	substrates	both	qualitatively	and	

quantitatively.

Please	see	Appendix	“A”	for	a	normative	bibliography	related	to	this	research	topic.

For	a	comprehensive	and	informative	bibliography	related	to	friction	ridge	examination	please	see	

Appendix	“B”:			The	2011	SWGFAST	response	to	the	Research,	Development,	Testing	&	Evaluation	

Inter-Agency	Working	Group	of	the	National	Science	and	Technology	Council, Committee	on	

Science,	Subcommittee	on	Forensic	Science.		

Assessing the	Sufficiency	and	Strength	of	Friction	Ridge	Features

Features,	Minutiae,	Quantification,	Mark-Up,	Sufficiency

Friction	Ridge
Version	1	/	Date	of	Issue:	10.29.15	/	Issuing	Authority:	Forensic	Science	Standards	Board	(FSSB)

3a.		In	what	ways	would	the	research	results	improve	current	laboratory	capabilities?

3b.		In	what	ways	would	the	research	results	improve	understanding	of	the	scientific	basis	for	the	

subcommittee(s)?

3c.		In	what	ways	would	the	research	results	improve	services	to	the	criminal	justice	system?

4.		Status assessment	(I,	II,	III,	or	IV):		

This	research	need	has	been	identified	by	one	or	more	subcommittees	of	OSAC	and	is	being	provided	as	an	

informational	resource	to	the	community.

Major gap	

in	current	

knowledge

Minor gap	

in	current	

knowledge

No	or	limited

current	research	

is	being	

conducted

I III

Existing current	

research	is	being	

conducted

II IV

Better	understanding	of	the	weight	of	different	features	during	the	examination	process	will	

improve	the	confidence,	error	rates,	and	overall	effectiveness	of	examiners.

Currently	there	is	not	a	reliable	assessment of	the	discriminating	strength	of	specific	friction	ridge	

feature	types.		Standardization	of	the	mark-up	of	friction	ridge	evidence	is	currently	being	studied.		

However,	even	if	the	mark-up	of	features	in	the	“Analysis” phase	of	ACE-V	were	completely	

standardized,	not	knowing	the	weight	of	each	feature	type	prohibits	comprehensive standards	for

friction	ridge	evaluation	decisions.	

Services	will	be	improved	to	the	criminal	justice	system	by	increased	reliability	of	examination	

decisions.

I
Version	1	/	Date	of	Issue:	10.29.15	/	Issuing	Authority:	Forensic	Science	Standards	Board	(FSSB)

// Approval	date:

(Approval	is	by	majority	vote	of	subcommittee.		Once	approved,	forward	to	SAC.)

1.		Does	the	SAC	agree	with	the	research	need?				Yes					 ⃝	

2.		Does	the	SAC	agree	with	the	status assessment?				Yes								⃝

If	no,	what	is	the	status assessment	of	the	SAC:

Approval	date:

(Approval	is	by	majority	vote	of	SAC.		Once	approved,	forward	to	NIST	for	posting.)

Subcommittee 01/29/2016

SA

C

17-Mar-2016
Version	1	/	Date	of	Issue:	10.29.15	/	Issuing	Authority:	Forensic	Science	Standards	Board	(FSSB)

APPENDIX	“A”

Cabanyes	Cordero,	D.	E.,	"Annexo:	Cálculo	De	Las	Frecuencias	De	Los	Tipos	Dactilares",	Ciencia	policial,	

vol.	101	pp.	61-69,	2010.

Champod,		C.,		"Reconnaissance		automatique		et		analyse		statistique	des		minuties		sur		les		empreintes		

digitales",		PhD		in		forensic	science,		Institut		de		Police		Scientifique		et		de		Criminologie,	Université	de	

Lausanne,	Lausanne,	Suisse,	1996.		Gómez	Marín,	J.,	Ramón	Ramón,	M.	Á.,	Gonzáles	Arrieta,	A.,	and	García	

Sánchez,	L.	J.,	"Estudio	De	Las	Frecuencias	Fenotípicas	De	Los	Puntos	Característicos	En	Dactilogramas",	

Ciencia	policial,	vol.	101	pp.	5-60,	2010.

Gutiérrez,	Esperanza,	Virginia	Galera,	Jose	Manuel	Martínez,	and	Concepción	Alonso.	"Biological	

Variability	of	the	Minutiae	in	the	Fingerprints	of	a	Sample	of	the	Spanish	Population."	Forensic	Science	

International	172,	no.	2-3	(2007):	98-105.

Gutièrrez-Redomero,	E.,	Alonso-RodrÌguez,	C.,	Hernandez-Hurtado,	L.		E.,		and		RodrÌguez-Villalba,		J.		L.,		

"Distribution		of		the	Minutiae		in		the		Fingerprints		of		a		Sample		of		the		Spanish	

Population",		Forensic		Science		International,		vol.		208		(1-3),	pp.	79-90,	2011.

Gutiérrez-Redomero,	Esperanza,	Noemi	Rivalderia,	Concepcion	Alonso-Rodriguez,	Luis	M.	Martin,	José	E.	

Dipierri,	Miguel	A.	Fernàndez-Peire,	and	Ricardo	Morillo.	"Are	There	Population	Differences in	Minutiae	

Frequencies?	A	Comparative	Study	of	Two	Argentinian	Population	Samples	and	One	Spanish	Sample."	

Forensic	Science	International	222,	no.	1-3	(2012):	266-76.

Koristka,	C.,	N.	Nürnberger,	and	G.	Georgi.	"Zur	Auftretenshäufigkeit	Von	Minuzien	Nach	Form	und	Lage	

Im	Fingerbeerenbereich."	Kriminalistik	und	forensische	Wissenchaften	35	(1979):	21-30.

Su,		C.		and		Srihari,		S.,		"Probability		of		Random		Correspondence		for	Fingerprints",	in	Computational	

Forensics:	Third	International	Workshop,	IWCF 2009.		LNCS	5718,	Z.J.	M.	H.	Geradts,	K.	Y.		Franke		and		C.		

J.		Veenman,		Eds.		Berlin-Heidelberg:	Springer	Verlag,	2009,	pp.	55-66

Seweryn,	Paulina.	"Frequency	of	Minutiae	on	Left	and	Right	Hand	Index	Fingers."	Problemy	

Kryminalistyki,	no.	247	(2005): 40-46.