L-surface and V-valley for optimal anisotropic 2D smoothing

We present the L-surface as an attractive generalization of the L-curve framework for the selection of the optimal smoothing parameters in two dimensional applications. It preserves the desirable features of its unidimensional analogous. The optimal amount of smoothing is indicated by the pair of parameters located in the point of maximum (Gaussian) curvature. Locate this point on a discrete parametric surface can be not straightforward. We introduce the V-valley as a simplified selection criterion based on distance minimization.