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Towards a framework for terrain attribute selection in environmental studies
Citation
Lecours, V and Devillers, R and Simms, AE and Lucieer, VL and Brown, CJ, Towards a framework for terrain attribute selection in environmental studies, Environmental Modelling and Software, 89 pp. 19-30. ISSN 1364-8152 (2017) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2016 Elsevier Ltd.
DOI: doi:10.1016/j.envsoft.2016.11.027
Abstract
Terrain attributes (e.g. slope, rugosity) derived from digital terrain models are commonly used in environmental
studies. The increasing availability of GIS tools that generate those attributes can lead users to
select a sub-optimal combination of terrain attributes for their applications. Our objectives were to
identify sets of terrain attributes that best capture terrain properties and to assess how they vary with
surface complexity. 230 tools from 11 software packages were used to derive terrain attributes from nine
surfaces of different topographic complexity levels. Covariation and independence of terrain attributes
were explored using three multivariate statistical methods. Distinct groups of correlated terrain attributes
were identified, and their importance in describing a surface varied with surface complexity.
Terrain attributes were highly covarying and sometimes ambiguously defined within software documentation.
We found that a combination of six to seven particular terrain attributes always captures
more than 70% of the topographic structure of surfaces.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | Terrain attributes, seafloor mapping, GIS, bathymetry, geomorphometry, surrogacy, terrain analysis, topography |
Research Division: | Engineering |
Research Group: | Geomatic engineering |
Research Field: | Geospatial information systems and geospatial data modelling |
Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
Objective Group: | Terrestrial systems and management |
Objective Field: | Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems |
UTAS Author: | Lucieer, VL (Dr Vanessa Lucieer) |
ID Code: | 113449 |
Year Published: | 2017 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 46 |
Deposited By: | Ecology and Biodiversity |
Deposited On: | 2017-01-03 |
Last Modified: | 2018-04-18 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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