sectoraligned

Sectoraligned is a concept used in geometry, computer graphics, and data analysis to describe objects, data, or layouts that are organized with respect to a partition of the plane into angular sectors centered at a common point. In this usage, alignment refers to the correspondence of features with the radial or angular boundaries that define the sectors.

Formally, choose a center point O and partition the plane into n sectors by rays emanating from O at fixed angles. A point, shape, or feature is sector-aligned if its orientation or its boundaries align with these sector boundaries or if its angular coordinate places it within a specific sector. In some contexts, alignment means sharp conformity to sector edges, while in others it means consistent association with a sector id.

Sector alignment is employed in polar tiling, radial basis layouts, and sensor data processing. It occurs in radar and sonar systems that aggregate measurements by angular direction, in wind or traffic direction diagrams, and in computer graphics when using sector-based culling or radially partitioned grids. It can facilitate indexing, symmetry with circular sensors, and reduced angular variance in analyses.

A limitation is that sector alignment depends on a chosen center and partition; rotating or translating the entire configuration may require recomputing sector assignments. The concept is thus context-dependent and can vary between disciplines.

See also: polar coordinates, sector tiling, angular partitioning, radial grids.