Search results for "terrain"

Effect of raster resolution and polygon-conversion algorithm on landslide susceptibility mapping

2016

The choice of the proper resolution in landslide susceptibility mapping is a worth considering issue. If, on the one hand, a coarse spatial resolution may describe the terrain morphologic properties with low accuracy, on the other hand, at very fine resolutions, some of the DEM-derived morphometric factors may hold an excess of details. Moreover, the landslide inventory maps are represented throughout geospatial vector data structure, therefore a conversion procedure vector-to-raster is required.This work investigates the effects of raster resolution on the susceptibility mapping in conjunction with the use of different algorithms of vector-raster conversion. The Artificial Neural Network t…

Microphysical Properties of Ice Crystal Precipitation and Surface-Generated Ice Crystals in a High Alpine Environment in Switzerland

2017

AbstractDuring the Cloud and Aerosol Characterization Experiment (CLACE) 2013 field campaign at the High Altitude Research Station Jungfraujoch, Switzerland, optically thin pure ice clouds and ice crystal precipitation were measured using holographic and other in situ particle instruments. For cloud particles, particle images, positions in space, concentrations, and size distributions were obtained, allowing one to extract size distributions classified by ice crystal habit. Small ice crystals occurring under conditions with a vertically thin cloud layer above and a stratocumulus layer approximately 1 km below exhibit similar properties in size and crystal habits as Antarctic/Arctic diamond …

2017

Abstract. In situ observations of cloud properties in complex alpine terrain where research aircraft cannot sample are commonly conducted at mountain-top research stations and limited to single-point measurements. The HoloGondel platform overcomes this limitation by using a cable car to obtain vertical profiles of the microphysical and meteorological cloud parameters. The main component of the HoloGondel platform is the HOLographic Imager for Microscopic Objects (HOLIMO 3G), which uses digital in-line holography to image cloud particles. Based on two-dimensional images the microphysical cloud parameters for the size range from small cloud particles to large precipitation particles are obtai…

Report of the COSPAR Mars special regions colloquium

2010

International audience; In this paper we present the findings of a COSPAR Mars Special Regions Colloquium held in Rome in 2007. We review and discuss the definition of Mars Special Regions, the physical parameters used to define Mars Special Regions, and physical features on Mars that can be interpreted as Mars Special Regions. We conclude that any region experiencing temperatures > -25 degrees C for a few hours a year and a water activity > 0.5 can potentially allow the replication of terrestrial microorganisms. Physical features on Mars that can be interpreted as meeting these conditions constitute a Mars Special Region. Based on current knowledge of the martian environment and the conser…

Regionalizing Rainfall at Very High Resolution over La Réunion Island: A Case Study for Tropical Cyclone Ando

2016

AbstractEnsemble simulations of Tropical Cyclone (TC) Ando (31 December 2000–9 January 2001) are performed over the southwest Indian Ocean using the nonhydrostatic WRF Model. Nested domains centered over the island of La Réunion allow for the simulation of local rainfall amounts associated with TC Ando at very high resolution (680-m grid spacing). The model is forced by and nudged toward ERA-Interim during the first (1–6) day(s) of the TC’s life cycle. The nudging ends at various dates to constrain either the whole life cycle or only parts of it.As expected, results show weakened member dispersion, as the relaxation lasts longer, with more members producing similar cyclone tracks and intens…

A pragmatic approach for downscaling precipitation in alpine-scale complex terrain

2006

A statistical method is presented to downscale precipitation from a mesoscale atmospheric model simulation. The algorithm consists of two steps. First, local subscale variability is estimated based on a high resolution observed climatology. Second, there is a bias correction, which constrains the downscaled model climatology to be equal to the observed climatology on the coarse grid. Combining both steps results in a local scaling factor for each day of the climatological year. The method is applied to the upper Danube catchment which encompasses part of the European Alps and which is characterized by highly complex orography. The subgrid-scale variability described by the first part of the…

Assessing, measuring and modelling erosion in calanchi areas: A review

2016

Calanchi are erosion landforms characterised by a heavily dissected terrain with steep, unvegetated slopes and channels with a dendritic pattern, which rapidly incise and extend headwards. Recent literature focusing on badland systems highlights their similarity with other larger fluvial landforms, stating that these behave as a full size laboratory, due to their rapid development in space and time and to the diversity of geomorphic processes involved. In this paper, a brief review of the most important results on badland research is firstly presented. Then, the morphometric similarity between calanchi and other erosion landforms is discussed. Finally, models quantitatively relating the vol…

A New Framework for the Extraction of Contour Lines in Scanned Topographic Maps

2010

3D simulations requested in various applications had led to the development of fast and accurate terrain topography measurement techniques. In this paper, we are presenting a novel framework dedicated to the semiautomatic processing of scanned maps, extracting the contour lines vectors and building a digital elevation model on their basis, fulfilled by a number of stages discussed in detail throughout the work. Despite the good results obtained on a large amount of scanned maps, a completely automatic map processing technique is unrealistic and remains an open problem.

Quantitative analysis of “calanchi” slopes in northern Sicily: erosion rates and their relationships with rainfalls and physico-chemical properties o…

2010

Locally constrained synthetic LoDs generation for natural terrain meshes

2004

Terrain representation is a basic topic in the field of interactive graphics. The amount of data required for a good quality of the terrain offers an important challenge to developers of such systems. For users of these applications, the accuracy of geographical data is generally less important than its natural visual appearance. This makes it possible to maintain a limited geographical database for the system and to extend it generating synthetic data. The evaluation of the intrinsic properties of the terrain (i.e. fractal dimension, roughness, etc.) may be used as the basis for generating extra data accomplishing the same patterns discovered in the actual information. However, it is also …