Single-element Anomaly Mapping from Stream Sediment Geochemical Landscapes Aided by Digital Terrain Analysis

The identification of anomalies within stream sediment geochemical data is one of the fastest developing areas in mineral exploration.The various means used to achieve this objective make use of either continuous or discrete field models of stream sediment geochemical data.To map anomalies in a discrete field model of such data,two corrections are required:background correction and downstream dilution correction.Topography and geomorphology are important factors in variations of element content in stream sediments.However,few studies have considered,through the use of digital terrain analysis,the influence of geomorphic features in downstream dilution correction of stream sediment geochemical data.This study proposes and demonstrates an improvement to the traditional downstream dilution correction equation,based on the use of digital terrain analysis to map single-element anomalies in stream sediment geochemical landscapes.Moreover,this study compares the results of analyses using discrete and continuous field models of stream sediment geochemical data from the Xincang area,Tibet.The efficiency of the proposed methodology was validated against known mineral occurrences.The results indicate that catchment-based analysis outperforms interpolation-based analysis of stream sediment geochemical data for anomaly mapping.Meanwhile,the proposed modified downstream dilution correction equation proved more effective than the original equation.However,further testing of this modified downstream dilution correction is needed in other areas,in order to investigate its efficiency further.

Geomorphology-oriented digital terrain analysis:Progress and perspectives

Digital terrain analysis(DTA)is one of the most important contents in the research of geographical information science(GIS).However,on the basis of the digital elevation model(DEM),many problems exist in the current research of DTA in geomorphological studies.For instance,the current DTA research appears to be focused more on morphology,phenomenon,and modern surface rather than mechanism,process,and underlying terrain.The current DTA research needs to be urgently transformed from the study of landform morphology to one focusing on landform process and mechanism.On this basis,this study summarizes the current research status of geomorphology-oriented DTA and systematically reviews and analyzes the research about the knowledge of geomorphological ontology,terrain modeling,terrain derivative calculation,and terrain analytical methods.With the help of DEM data,DTA research has the advantage of carrying out geomorphological studies from the perspective of surface morphology.However,the study of DTA has inherent defects in terms of data expression and analytic patterns.Thus,breakthroughs in basic theories and key technologies are necessary.Moreover,scholars need to realize that DTA research must be transformed from phenomenon to mechanism,from morphology to process,and from terrain to landform.At present,the research development of earth science has reached the critical stage in which the DTA research should focus more on geomorphological ontology.Consequently,this study proposes several prospects of geomorphology-oriented DTA from the aspects of value-added DEM data model,terrain derivatives and their spatial relations,and macro-terrain analysis.The study of DTA based on DEM is at a critical period along with the issue on whether the current GIS technology can truly support the development of geography.The research idea of geomorphology-oriented DTA is expected to be an important exploration and practice in the field of GIS.

Stability analysis unit and spatial distribution pattern of the terrain texture in the northern Shaanxi Loess Plateau

Terrain texture analysis is an important method of digital terrain analysis in quantitative geomorphological research and in the exploration of the spatial heterogeneity and autocorrelation of terrain features. However, a major issue often neglected in previous studies is the calculation unit of the terrain texture, that is, the stability analysis unit. As the test size increases, the derived terrain textures become increasingly similar so that their differences can be ignored. The test size of terrain texture is defined as the stability analysis unit. This study randomly selected 48 areas within the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi in China as the study sites and used the gray level co-occurrence matrix to calculate the terrain texture. The stability analysis unit of the terrain texture was then extracted, and its spatial distribution pattern in the Loess Plateau was studiedusing spatial interpolation method. Four terrain texture metrics, i.e., homogeneity, energy, correlation, and contrast, were extracted on the basis of the stability analysis unit, and the spatial variation patterns of these parameters were studied. Results showed that the spatial distribution pattern and the terrain texture metrics reflected a trend of high–low–high from north to south, which correlated with the spatial distribution of the landforms at the Loess Plateau. In addition, the terrain texture measures was significantly correlated with the terrain factors of gully density and slope, and this relationship showed that terrain texture measures based on the stability analysis unit could reflect the basic characteristics of terrain morphology. The stability analysis unit provided a reasonable analytical scale for terrain texture analysis and could be used as a measure of the regional topography to accurately describe basic terrain characteristics.

Characteristics and influencing factors of proximity distance index on the northern Shaanxi Loess Plateau in China

Topographic feature points and lines are the framework of topography,and their spatial distance relationship is an breakthrough in the study of topographical geometry,internal structure and development level.Proximity distance(PD)is an indicator to describe the distance between the gully source point(GSP)and the watershed boundary.In the upstream catchment area,PDs can be expressed by the streamline proximity distance(SPD),as well as by the horizontal proximity distance(HPD)and the vertical proximity distance(VPD)in the horizontal and vertical dimensions,respectively.The series of indicators(e.g.,SPD,HPD and VPD)are important for quantifying the geomorphological development process of a loess basin because of the headward erosion of loess gullies.In this study,the digital elevation model data with 5 m resolution and a digital topographic analysis method are used for the statistical analyses of the SPD,VPD and HPD in 50 sample areas of 6 geomorphic types in the Loess Plateau of northern Shaanxi.The spatial characteristics and the influencing factors are also analysed.Results show that:1)Central tendencies for the HPDs and the VPDs for the whole study area and the six typical loess landforms are evident.2)Spatial patterns of the HPDs and the VPDs exhibit evident trends and zonal distributions over the whole study area.3)The HPDs have a strong positive correlation with gully density(GD)and hypsometric integral.The VPDs also correlates with GD to an extent.Vegetation cover,mean annual precipitation and loess thickness have stronger effects on the VPD than on the HPD.

Geomorphology-oriented theoretical framework and construction method for value-added DEM

Digital elevation model(DEM)plays a fundamental role in the study of the earth system by expressing surface configuration,understanding surface process,and revealing surface mechanism.DEM is widely used in analysis and modeling in the field of geoscience.However,traditional DEM has the defect of single attribute,which is difficult to support the research in earth system science oriented to geoscience process and mechanism mining.Hence,realizing the value-added data model on the basis of traditional DEM is necessary to serve digital elevation modeling and terrain analysis under the background of a new geomorphology research paradigm and earth observation technology.A theoretical framework for value-added DEM that mainly includes concept,connotation,content,and categories,is constructed in this study.The relationship between different types of value-added DEMs as well as the research significance and application category of this theoretical framework are also proposed.The following are different methods of value-added DEMs:(1)value-added methods of DEM space and time dimensions that emphasize the integration of the ground and underground as well as coupling of time and space,(2)attribute-based value-added methods composed of material(including underground,surface,and ground)and morphological properties,and(3)value-added methods of features and physical elements that consider geographical objects and landform features formed by natural processes and artificial effects.The digital terrace,slope,and watershed models are used as examples to illustrate application scenarios of the three kinds of value-added methods.This study aims to improve expression methods of DEMs under the background of new surveying and mapping technologies by adding value to the DEM at three levels of dimensions,attributes,and elements as well as support knowledge-driven digital geomorphological analysis in the era of big data.

Chinese progress in geomorphometry

Geomorphometry, the science of digital terrain analysis （DTA）, is an important focus of research in both geomorphology and geographical information science （GIS）. Given that 70% of China is mountainous, geomorphological research is popular among Chinese schol- ars, and the development of GIS over the last 30 years has led to significant advances in geomorphometric research. In this paper, we review Chinese progress in geomorphometry based on the published literature. There are three major areas of progress： digital terrain modelling methods, DTA methods, and applications of digital terrain models （DTMs）. First, traditional vector- and raster-based terrain modelling methods, including the assessment of uncertainty, have received widespread attention. New terrain modelling methods such as unified raster and vector, high-fidelity, and real-time dynamic geographical scene modelling have also attracted research attention and are now a major focus of digital terrain modelling research. Second, in addition to the popular DTA methods based on topographical derivatives geomorphological features, and hydrological factors extracted from DTMs, DTA methods have been extended to include analyses of the structure of underlying strata, ocean surface features and even socioeconomic spatial structures. Third, DTMs have been applied to fields including global climate change, analysis of various typical regions, lunar surface and other related fields. Clearly, Chinese scholars have made significant progress in geomorphometry. Chinese scholars have had the greatest international impact in areas including high-fidelity digital terrain modelling and DTM-based regional geomorphological analysis, particularly in the Loess Plateau and the Tibetan Plateau regions.

Spatial distribution and influencing factors of Surface Nibble Degree index in the severe gully erosion region of China’s Loess Plateau

In China’s Loess Plateau severe gully erosion(LPGE)region,the shoulder-line is the most intuitive and unique manifestation of the loess landform,which divides a landform into positive and negative terrains(PNTs).The spatial combination model of PNTs is of great significance for revealing the evolution of the loess landform.This study modeled and proposed the Surface Nibble Degree(SND),which is a new index that reflects the comparison of the areas of PNTs.Based on 5 m DEMs and matched high-resolution remote sensing images,the PNTs of 164 complete watersheds in the LPGE were extracted accurately,and the SND index was calculated.The spatial distribution trend of SND was discussed,and the relationship between SND and the factors that affect the evolution mechanism of regional landform was explored further.Results show that:(1)The SND can be calculated formally.It can quantify the development of the loess landform well.(2)The SND of the LPGE has evident spatial differentiation that increases from southwest to northeast.High values appear in Shenmu of Shaanxi,Shilou of Shanxi,and northern Yanhe River,whereas the low values are mainly distributed in the southern loess tableland and the inclined elongated ridge area of Pingliang in Gansu and Guyuan in Ningxia.(3)In the Wuding River and Yanhe River,the SND decreases with the increase in flow length(FL).In the North-Luohe River and Jinghe River,the SND increases with FL.(4)SND is significantly correlated with gully density and sediment modulus and moderately correlated with hypsometric integral.As for the mechanism factors analysis,the relationship between loess thickness and SND is not obvious,but SND increased first and then decreased with the increase of precipitation and vegetation in each geographical division,and we found that the land use type of low coverage grassland has greater erosion potential.

An approach to extracting surface supply relationships between glaciers and lakes on the Tibetan Plateau

Surface supply relationships between glaciers and lakes are needed to analyze and understand hydrological processes at regional and global scales.However,these supply relationships still cannot be extracted efficiently by existing methods.This paper proposes an automatic and efficient approach to extracting surface supply relationships between glaciers and lakes based on meltwater flow paths.The approach includes two stages:(1)identifying direct connections between objects(i.e.glaciers and lakes)based on flow direction derived from digital terrain analysis on a gridded digital elevation model(DEM)and(2)deriving all(or user-specified)kinds of surface supply relationships based on graph search.All computation-intensive steps in this approach have been parallelized;and all steps in the proposed approach have been integrated as an automatic program.Results for the Tibetan Plateau show that given outline data for glaciers and lakes and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission DEM,the proposed approach can automatically derive diverse surface supply relationships under userspecified restrictions on the attributes of the supply route.The parallelization in the approach effectively improves the computing efficiency.The proposed approach could also be applied to developing a detailed fundamental dataset of supply relationships between glaciers and lakes for other region or period.