Towards a Common Framework for the Identification of Landforms on Terrain Models

A landform is a physical feature of the terrain with its own recognisable shape. Its definition is often qualitative and inherently vague. Hence, landforms are difficult to formalise in a logical model that can be implemented. We propose for that purpose a framework where these qualitative and vague definitions are transformed successively during different phases to yield an implementable data structure. Our main consideration is that landforms are characterised by salient elements as perceived by users. Hence, a common prototype based on an object-oriented approach is defined that shall apply to all landforms. This framework shall facilitate the definition of conceptual models for other landforms and relies on the use of ontology design patterns to express common elements and structures. The model is illustrated on examples from the literature, showing that existing works undertaken separately can be developed under a common framework.