Flow network derivation from a high resolution DEM in a low relief,agrarian landscape

Digital flow networks derived from digital elevation models (DEMs) sensitively react to errors due to measurement, data processing and data representation. Since high‐resolution DEMs are increasingly used in geomorphological and hydrological research, automated and semi‐automated procedures to reduce the impact of such errors on flow networks are required. One such technique is stream‐carving, a hydrological conditioning technique to ensure drainage connectivity in DEMs towards the DEM edges. Here we test and modify a state‐of‐the‐art carving algorithm for flow network derivation in a low‐relief, agricultural landscape characterized by a large number of spurious, topographic depressions. Our results show that the investigated algorithm reconstructs a benchmark network insufficiently in terms of carving energy, distance and a topological network measure. The modification to the algorithm that performed best, combines the least‐cost auxiliary topography (LCAT) carving with a constrained breaching algorithm that explicitly takes automatically identified channel locations into account. We applied our methods to a low relief landscape, but the results can be transferred to flow network derivation of DEMs in moderate to mountainous relief in situations where the valley bottom is broad and flat and precise derivations of the flow networks are needed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Validation d'un modèle numérique de terrain adapté à la modélisation hydrologique régionale sur l'Algérie du Nord

Résumé

L'objectif de ce travail est de fournir aux hydrologues travaillant sur l'Algérie du Nord un modèle numérique de terrain (MNT) permettant la mise en ?uvre de méthodes d'estimation régionales de paramètres hydrologiques tels que les débits de crue instantanés décennaux ou les apports moyens annuels. Il doit permettre une détermination satisfaisante des contours des bassins versants et l'obtention de paramètres morphométriques comparables entre eux sur l'ensemble de la zone d'étude. Le MNT que nous proposons est un compromis entre des tailles de pixels petites donnant une bonne précision et des pixels plus grands permettant de couvrir uniformément la zone. Nous montrons que le MNT à la maille de 100 m est parfaitement adapté sous réserve de l'avoir préalablement corrigé manuellement dans les zones endoréiques et dans les zones relativement planes. Ce MNT permet de retrouver correctement les principaux paramètres morphométriques utilisés en hydrologie. Nous mettons donc à la disposition des hydrologues ce MNT à 100 m dans une projection Lambert bien adaptée aux besoins de l'hydrologie algérienne.

Editeur Z.W. Kundzewicz

Citation Rezak, S., Laborde, J.-P., et Errih, M., 2012. Validation d'un modèle numérique de terrain adapté à la modélisation hydrologique régionale sur l'Algérie du Nord. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 57 (5), 928–941.     

数字环境下面状要素分级设色的适宜方案分析

为探究明度与色相同步变化时不同分级设色方案在数字环境下的适宜性,基于Munsell色彩调和秩序与CIEDE2000色差公式设计了7种分级设色方案,并开展了视觉认知试验。试验结果表明：①增加各级间色差会导致颜色辨识的准确性增强;②与各级间色差相等的色阶相比,色差先增大后减小的色阶有利于读图判别;③图斑面积分布均匀程度对颜色辨识的影响并不显著;④色阶的总色差增大,会导致颜色过渡的协调性降低。色差先增大后减小的色阶能产生较好的辨识效果,同时保持较好的色彩协调性,且相关规律可以推广到图斑面积分布均匀程度不同的地图中,在分级设色中运用具有优势。     

Improved Parameterization of Snow Albedo in WRF + Noah: Methodology Based on a Severe Snow Event on the Tibetan Plateau

Snowfall and the subsequent evolution of the snowpack have a large effect on the surface energy balance and water cycle of the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The effects of snow cover can be represented by the WRF coupled with a land surface scheme. The widely used Noah scheme is computationally efficient, but its poor representation of albedo needs considerable improvement. In this study, an improved albedo scheme is developed using a satellite-retrieved albedo that takes snow depth and age into account. Numerical experiments were then conducted to simulate a severe snow event in March 2017. The performance of the coupled WRF/Noah model, which implemented the improved albedo scheme, is compared against the model’s performance using the default Noah albedo scheme and against the coupled WRF/CLM that applied CLM albedo scheme. When the improved albedo scheme is implemented, the albedo overestimation in the southeastern TP is reduced, reducing the RMSE of the air temperature by 0.7°C. The improved albedo scheme also attains the highest correlation between the satellite-derived and the model-estimated albedo, which provides for a realistic representation of both the snow water equivalent (SWE) spatial distribution in the heavy snowbelt (SWE > 6 mm) and the maximum SWE in the eastern TP. The underestimated albedo in the coupled WRF/CLM leads to underestimating the regional maximum SWE and a consequent failure to estimate SWE in the heavy snowbelt accurately. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of improving the Noah albedo scheme and provides a theoretical reference for researchers aiming to improve albedo schemes further.     

Stereo topographic models of Mercury after three MESSENGER flybys

From photogrammetric analysis of stereo images of Mercury obtained during three MESSENGER flybys, we have produced three digital terrain models (DTMs) that have a grid spacing of 1 km and together cover 30% of the planet's surface. The terrain models provide a rich source of information on the morphology of Mercury's surface, including details of tectonic scarp systems as well as impact craters and basins. More than 400 craters larger than 15 km in diameter are included in the models. Additionally, the models provide important test cases for the analysis of stereo image data to be collected during MESSENGER's orbital mission phase. Small lateral offsets and differences in trends between stereo DTMs and laser altimeter profiles may be due to remaining errors in spacecraft position, instrument pointing, or Mercury coordinate knowledge. Such errors should be resolved during the orbital mission phase, when more joint analyses of data and detailed orbit modeling will be possible.     

数字城市中3维城市模型构建技术研究

3维城市模型标准化的研究,尚未引起国内学者的注意,本文以3维城市模型为研究对象,分析了CityGML模型的概念,专题模型的构建方法,给出了构建的实例,相信对从事相关工作的同行有着重要的参考价值和借鉴意义。     

The derivation of skeleton lines for terrain features

The geometric and physical analysis methods are conventional methods for the derivation of skeleton lines in the fields of cartography, digital photogrammetry, and related areas. This paper proposes a stepwise approach that uses the physical analysis method in the first stage and the geometric analysis method in the subsequent stage. The physical analysis method analyses the terrain globally to obtain a rough set of skeleton lines for a terrain surface. The rough skeleton lines help to structure the ordering of feature points by the geometric analysis method.     

Decentralising Zimbabwe’s water management: The case of Guyu-Chelesa irrigation scheme

Smallholder irrigation schemes are largely supply driven such that they exclude the beneficiaries on the management decisions and the choice of the irrigation schemes that would best suit their local needs. It is against this background that the decentralisation framework and the Dublin Principles on Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) emphasise the need for a participatory approach to water management. The Zimbabwean government has gone a step further in decentralising the management of irrigation schemes, that is promoting farmer managed irrigation schemes so as to ensure effective management of scarce community based land and water resources. The study set to investigate the way in which the Guyu-Chelesa irrigation scheme is managed with specific emphasis on the role of the Irrigation Management Committee (IMC), the level of accountability and the powers devolved to the IMC. Merrey’s 2008 critique of IWRM also informs this study which views irrigation as going beyond infrastructure by looking at how institutions and decision making processes play out at various levels including at the irrigation scheme level. The study was positioned on the hypothesis that ‘decentralised or autonomous irrigation management enhances the sustainability and effectiveness of irrigation schemes’. To validate or falsify the stated hypothesis, data was gathered using desk research in the form of reviewing articles, documents from within the scheme and field research in the form of questionnaire surveys, key informant interviews and field observation. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used to analyse data quantitatively, whilst content analysis was utilised to analyse qualitative data whereby data was analysed thematically. Comparative analysis was carried out as Guyu-Chelesa irrigation scheme was compared with other smallholder irrigation scheme’s experiences within Zimbabwe and the Sub Saharan African region at large. The findings were that whilst the scheme is a model of a decentralised entity whose importance lies at improving food security and employment creation within the community, it falls short in representing a downwardly accountable decentralised irrigation scheme. The scheme is faced with various challenges which include its operation which is below capacity utilisation, absence of specialised technical human personnel to address infrastructural breakdowns, uneven distribution of water pressure, incapacitated Irrigation Management Committee (IMC), absence of a locally legitimate constitution, compromised beneficiary participation and unclear lines of communication between various institutions involved in water management. Understanding decentralization is important since one of the key tenets of IWRM is stakeholder participation which the decentralization framework interrogates.     

Crossing natural and data set boundaries: coastal terrain modelling in the South-West Finnish Archipelago

Geographical information systems (GIS) are important tools in coastal research and management. Coastal GIS applications involve special challenges, because the coastal environment is a complex transitional system between the terrestrial and marine realms. Also acquisition methods and responsibilities for spatial data (and thus their properties) change at the shoreline. This article explores the consequences of this land-sea divide for coastal terrain modelling. We study how methods designed for terrestrial environments can be used to create integrated raster coastal terrain models (CTMs) from coarse elevation and depth data. We focus on shore slopes, because many particularities of coastal terrain and the data which describe it as well as the resulting problems are concentrated in the shore zone. Based on shorelines, terrestrial contours, depth contours and depth points, we used the ANUDEM algorithm to interpolate CTMs at different spatial resolutions, with and without drainage enforcement, for two test areas in a highly complex archipelago coast. Slope aspect and gradient rasters were derived from the CTMs using Horn's algorithm. Values were assigned from the slope rasters to thousands of points along the test areas' shorelines in different ways. Shore slope gradients and aspects were also calculated directly from the shorelines and contours. These modelled data were compared to each other and to field-measured shore profiles using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. As far as the coarse source data permitted, the interpolation and slope calculations delivered good results at fine spatial resolutions. Vector-based slope calculations were very sensitive to quality problems of the source data. Fine-resolution raster data were consequently found most suitable for describing shore slopes from coarse coastal terrain data. Terrestrial and marine parts of the CTMs were subject to different errors, and modelling methods and parameters had different consequences there. Thus, methods designed for terrestrial applications can be successfully used for coastal terrain modelling, but the choice of methods and parameters and the interpretation of modelling results require special attention to the differences of terrestrial and marine topography and data.     

Spatial analysis of geometric design consistency and road sight distance

Because of the high number of crashes occurring on highways, it is necessary to intensify the search for new tools that help in understanding their causes. This research explores the use of a geographic information system (GIS) for an integrated analysis, taking into account two accident-related factors: design consistency (DC) (based on vehicle speed) and available sight distance (ASD) (based on visibility). Both factors require specific GIS software add-ins, which are explained. Digital terrain models (DTMs), vehicle paths, road centerlines, a speed prediction model, and crash data are integrated in the GIS. The usefulness of this approach has been assessed through a study of more than 500 crashes. From a regularly spaced grid, the terrain (bare ground) has been modeled through a triangulated irregular network (TIN). The length of the roads analyzed is greater than 100 km. Results have shown that DC and ASD could be related to crashes in approximately 4% of cases. In order to illustrate the potential of GIS, two crashes are fully analyzed: a car rollover after running off road on the right side and a rear-end collision of two moving vehicles. Although this procedure uses two software add-ins that are available only for ArcGIS, the study gives a practical demonstration of the suitability of GIS for conducting integrated studies of road safety.