Index: branches/eam_branches/ipp-20110213/psModules/src/objects/pmFootprintCullPeaks.c
===================================================================
--- branches/eam_branches/ipp-20110213/psModules/src/objects/pmFootprintCullPeaks.c	(revision 30982)
+++ branches/eam_branches/ipp-20110213/psModules/src/objects/pmFootprintCullPeaks.c	(revision 30984)
@@ -226,8 +226,13 @@
 		int y = peak->y - subImg->row0;
 		int myID = idImg->data.S32[y][x];
-
-		// a peak in this threshold bin must be in a valid footprint, right?
-		psAssert(myID > 0, "impossible"); 
 		psAssert(myID < found->n, "impossible");
+
+		// a peak in this threshold bin without a valid footprint comes from a region
+		// with only a handful of pixels (1 or more from the peak itself).  It probably
+		// cannot be joined to a neighbor
+		if (myID == 0) {
+		    psArrayAdd (brightPeaks, 128, peak);
+		    continue;
+		}
 
 		// keep this peak if found->data.U8[myID] == false (no brighter peak in the footprint)