Abstract: A surface topography analysis invokes a sensor device for receiving a series of values from a sensor element of measurement equipment adapted to quantify an input stimuli into a surface height value, and computes consecutive curvatures from the received series of values. An aggregate value (sum) of the consecutive curvatures is compared to a threshold, and based on the comparison, the approach concludes that at least one of the consecutive curvatures corresponds to an outlier. The set of values are based on a signal that is continuous, although not necessarily differentiable, as received from the measurement equipment. Such measurement equipment embodying the sensor device may further comprise at least one of atomic probe microscopes, interferometric microscopes, confocal microscopes, scanning laser microscopes, profiling instruments, scanners, and CMMs.