Channel widths, landslides, faults, and beyond: The new world order of high-spatial resolution Google Earth imagery in the study of earth surface processes

The past decade has seen a rapid increase in the application of high-resolution imagery and geographic-based information systems across every segment of society from security intelligence to product marketing to scientifi c research. Google Earth has positioned itself at the forefront of this spatial information wave by providing free access to high-resolution imagery through a simple, user-friendly interface. Whereas Google Earth imagery has been widely exploited across the earth sciences for spatial visualization, education, and place-based searches, few studies have utilized the highresolution imagery to yield quantitative insights about the processes and mechanisms acting at the earth’s surface. In this paper, we detail the benefi ts of the underlying high-resolution imagery available within Google Earth, review the limited published research to date, and utilize this imagery to quantitatively illuminate previously diffi cult and unresolved questions within the discipline of geomorphology involving: (1) channel-width variability and scaling relations in the tectonically active Himalaya; (2) landslide characteristics related to large magnitude climatic and tectonic events in Haiti; and (3) identifi cation and quantifi cation of laterally offset geomorphic features within eastern California. In each example, we compare analyses using