This paper evaluates the quality of SRTM3 data for alpine and plateau areas in Northwestern (NW) China against DEM data extracted from topographic maps. These SRTM data were obtained from both the ESRI ArcGIS 9.2 software package and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory website. It shows that these two data sources provide the approximate precision as the DEM based on 1:250000 scale topographic map...

Steep topographic reliefs and heavy vegetation severely limit visibility when examining geological structures and surface deformations in the field or when detecting these features with traditional approaches, such as aerial photography and satellite imagery. However, a light detection and ranging (LiDAR)-derived digital elevation model (DEM), which is directly related to the bare ground surfac...

Snow-accumulation rates are known to be sensitive to local changes in ice-sheet surface slope because of the effect of katabatic winds. These topographic effects can be preserved in ice cores that are collected at non-ice-divide locations. The trajectory of an ice-core site at South Pole is reconstructed using measurements of ice-sheet motion to show that snow was probably deposited at places o...

Use of electromagnetic induction (EMI) sensors along with geospatial modeling provide a better opportunity for understanding spatial distribution of soil properties and crop yields on a landscape level and to map site-specific management zones. The first objective of this research was to evaluate the relationship of crop yields, soil properties and apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) at diff...

Digital elevation models (DEMs) vary in resolution and accuracy by the production method. DEMs with different resolutions and accuracies can generate varied topographic and hydrological features, which can in turn affect predictions by soil erosion models, such as the WEPP (Water Erosion Prediction Project) model. This study investigates the effects of DEMs on deriving topographic and hydrologi...

Hillslope length is a fundamental attribute of landscapes, intrinsically linked to drainage density, landslide hazard, biogeochemical cycling and hillslope sediment transport. Existing methods to estimate catchment average hillslope lengths include inversion of drainage density or identification of a break in slope–area scaling, where the hillslope domain transitions into the fluvial domain. He...

TAPES-G is a grid-based terrain analysis program that computes slope, aspect, upslope contributing area, profile and plan curvature and several other topographic attributes for each cell of a square-grid digital elevation model (DEM). These topographic attributes can be used to represent key physical processes in a form simple enough to allow modeling at catchment and larger scales. The program...

Shallow earth translational slides and earth flows, affecting colluvial soils derived by the weathering of the clayey bedrock, are a recurrent problem causing damage to buildings and roads in many areas of Apennines. The susceptibility assessment, e.g. slope stability models, requires the preliminary characterization of these superficial covers (lithology, geotechnical and hydraulic parameters)...

MCNAB, W.H. 1993. A topographic index to quantify the effeet of mesoscale landform on site productivity. Can. J, For. Res. 23: 1100-l 107. Landform is related to environmental factors that affect site productivity in mountainous areas. 1 devised a simple index of Iandform attd tested this index as a predictor of site index ín the Blue Ridge physiographic province. ‘fhe landform index is the mea...