TITLE:
Quantitative Geomorphometrics for Terrain Characterization
AUTHORS:
David Coblentz, Frank Pabian, Lakshman Prasad
KEYWORDS:
Geomorphology; Geomorphometrics; Drainage Patterns; Geologic Characterization; Digital Elevation Models
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Geosciences,
Vol.5 No.3,
March
27,
2014
ABSTRACT:
The
relationship between geology and landforms has long been established with
quantitative analysis dating back more than 100 years. The surface expression
of various subsurface lithologies motivates our effort to develop an automated
terrain classification algorithm based solely on topographic information. The
nexus of several factors has recently provided the opportunity
to advance our understanding of the relationship between topography and
geology within a rigorous quantitative framework, including recent advances in
the field of geomorphometrics (the science of quantitative land surface
analysis), the availability of very high resolution (sub meter) digital
elevation models, and increasing sophisticated geomorphology and image analysis
techniques. In the present study, the geological and geomorphological units in
an exemplar study area located in Western U.S. (southern Nevada) have been
delineated through an evaluation of a high resolution (1-meter and 0.25-meter)
digital elevation model. The morphological aspects of these features obtained
from DEMs generated from different sources are compared. Our analysis
demonstrates that a 1-meter DEM can provide a terrain characterization that can
differentiate underlying lithological types and a very high resolution DEM
(0.25 meter) can be used to evaluate fracture patterns.