Title
Multiscale curvatures for identifying channel locations from DEMs.
Abstract
Curvature based methods are suitable for channel identification in digital elevation models. One obstacle in using these methods is the fact that channels generally occur at multiple scales in the landscape, from small creeks to large rivers. In this paper, we show how likely channel pixels can be identified simultaneously at a range of scales using multiscale curvature operators applied to digital elevation models. Our proposed Hyperscale Channel Extraction (HCE) method localizes channels at the smallest scale while simultaneously tracking the shape of the channel at a full interval of scales (the hyperscale). We test the method using two different types of curvature, and apply and validate it to a catchment representing terrain with a high slope sampled by airborne laser altimetry. The test results demonstrate that by explicitly employing the extra dimension of scale to localize channels, (a) we are able to robustly identify channel pixels, as possible channel locations are tracked through a full interval of scales, (b) no more a priori determination of the relevant scale is necessary, and (c) only one parameter remains to be set: a threshold on the curvature value that has a clear physical interpretation.
Year
DOI
Venue
2014
10.1016/j.cageo.2014.03.016
Computers & Geosciences
Keywords
Field
DocType
Curvature,Scale space,Multiscale,Channel,Classification,Geomorphology
Data mining,Curvature,Computer science,Terrain,A priori and a posteriori,Remote sensing,Scale space,Communication channel,Algorithm,Digital elevation model,Hyperscale,Pixel
Journal
Volume
ISSN
Citations 
68
0098-3004
1
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.44
2
4
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Roderik Koenders121.15
Roderik C. Lindenbergh2133.86
Joep E. A. Storms321.09
Massimo Menenti411630.77