We describe a low-coherence interferometric technique which we have us
ed for 3-D mapping of impact craters produced in the laboratory. We al
so propose an approach to analyse the impact craters in terms of the Z
ernike polynomials. Preliminary results suggest that this set may prov
ide a useful parametric representation, thereby enabling us to relate
crater features to impact parameters. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.