Terrain Analysis with Landserf 2.3

        For this project I am choosing to do a Terrain Analysis using a DEM that was obtained from the National Map Viewer website by using the program Landserf 2.3, which was developed by Professor Jo Wood of  giCentre School of Informatics. Again, I am choosing to do the project on a portion of Humphrey's Peak, the same region that I worked with for my previous project on Terrain Visualization, depicted below.

        

        I begin this project by importing the DEM that I obtained from National Map Viewer into Landserf 2.3. Next I converted the DEM into a useable format. Since the image imported had no reliable Latitude/Longitude measurement, I decided to edit the map projection setting to Latitude/Longitude (WGS 84 ellipsoid). I then reprojected the image using the UTM coordinate system. The next thing that I did was create a Hill Shaded Map by changing the surface parameter and choosing the Shaded Relief option.

        From this Shaded Relief Map, I changed the surface parameter again choosing this as my primary raster and created a Feature Extraction Map showing surface network channels and ridges. I then combined the Hill Shaded Map and the Feature Extraction Map by changing the display to Hue-Intensity, choosing the Feature Extraction Map as my primary raster and the Hill Shaded Map as my secondary raster. The result is depicted below with Humphrey Peak's surface network of channels shown in blue and its ridges shown in yellow. I have included a histogram showing the statistical result to go with the map. As we can see from the histogram, planar surfaces have the highest occurrence.

Drainage Network Analysis Map:

The next step in this project is to create a slope analysis map. I will be using the same DEM of the same region for this portion of the project. The first thing that I do is create a slope map by changing the surface parameter to slope and an aspect map by changing the surface parameter to aspect. I then combined and overlay my slope map on top of my aspect map, choosing the blend option with 50% blending of both maps with the primary raster being the slope map, and the secondary raster being the aspect map. Below is a depiction of the final result showing areas with steeper slopes in bright red and areas with slopes that are not as steep in yellow. In addition, the aspect map underneath helps to show the directionality that the slope is facing for this portion of Humphrey's Peak in dark red and blue. I have also included a histogram below to show the statistical result of this map.

Slope Analysis Map:

The final portion of this project is to create an Curvature Analysis Map. I begin this process by creating a Plan Curvature Map by using the surface parameter option Next, I create a Mean Curvature Map also by using the surface parameter option. I then overlay the two by using the blend option putting my Plan Curvature Map as the primary raster and my Mean Curvature Map as the secondary raster showing the degree of curvature on the landscape. My final result is depicted below with lines showing the rate of change of aspect for Humphrey's Peak. Again, I have included a histogram to show the statistical result of the map depicted.

Curvature Analysis Map: