title: Split contiguous regions within numpy array into smaller contiguous regions
body: <p>I am trying to identify the center of mass of each contiguous regions of a certain size (i.e. 30 total pixels) within a binary numpy array.</p>
  
  <p>I've used <code>scipy.ndimage.label</code> to identify any contiguous regions of pixels within my array and it worked great.  However, in some cases there are contiguous regions that are larger than the size I am looking for (i.e. 60 pixels, 75 pixels, 90 pixels, etc.)  In these cases I need to split the large contiguous region into several contiguous regions of my desired size.</p>
  
  <p>For example:</p>
  
  <p>Imagine the following array and I need to find all contiguous areas within the array.</p>
  
  <pre><code>&gt;&gt;&gt; x
  array([[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0],
         [0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]])
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Labels</p>
  
  <pre><code>&gt;&gt;&gt; labels, numLabels = scipy.ndimage.label(x)
  &gt;&gt;&gt; labels
  array([[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 2, 0],
         [0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 2, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 0, 4, 4, 4, 4, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 0, 4, 4, 4, 4, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 0, 4, 4, 4, 4, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 0, 4, 4, 4, 4, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 0, 4, 4, 4, 4, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 0, 4, 4, 4, 4, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 0, 4, 4, 4, 4, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]])
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Let's say I'm only interested in contiguous areas of 9 pixels.  This is an example of the output I would be looking for.</p>
  
  <pre><code>&gt;&gt;&gt; contiguous_regions
  array([[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 5, 5, 5, 0, 0, 0, 0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 5, 5, 5, 0, 0, 0, 0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 5, 5, 5, 0, 0, 0, 0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 0, 0, 0, 0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 0, 0, 0, 0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 0, 0, 0, 0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,  3,  3,  3,  8,  8,  8,  9,  9,  9, 19, 19, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,  3,  3,  3,  8,  8,  8,  9,  9,  9, 19, 19, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,  3,  3,  3,  8,  8,  8,  9,  9,  9, 19, 19, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 10, 10, 10, 11, 11, 11, 12, 12, 12, 19, 19, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 10, 10, 10, 11, 11, 11, 12, 12, 12, 19, 20, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 10, 10, 10, 11, 11, 11, 12, 12, 12, 20, 20, 0,  4,  4,  4, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 14, 15, 15, 15, 20, 20, 0,  4,  4,  4, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 14, 15, 15, 15, 20, 20, 0,  4,  4,  4, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 14, 15, 15, 15, 20, 20, 0, 22, 22, 22, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 16, 16, 16, 17, 17, 17, 18, 18, 18,  0,  0, 0, 22, 22, 22, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 16, 16, 16, 17, 17, 17, 18, 18, 18,  0,  0, 0, 22, 22, 22, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 16, 16, 16, 17, 17, 17, 18, 18, 18,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0],
         [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 0,  0,  0,  0, 0, 0]])
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>It's ok if edges get cutoff and the contiguous regions do not all need to be the same shape necessarily, but the more square the better.  Eventually, once I have the smaller regions of interest, I need to get the center of mass of each one using <code>scipy.ndimage.measurements.center_of_mass</code>.  If there is a way I could reduce these contiguous areas into individual pixels <code>x</code> distance from one another, that would work too.</p>
  
  <p>Any ideas on how to accomplish this with numpy and scipy?</p>
  
  <p>Thanks in advance</p>