Influence of different relief information sources on the geomorphological characterization of small watersheds

Abstract

Mathematical models have been widely used to quantify hydrological processes for various practical purposes. These models depend on geomorphological attributes which are derived from relief information represented by Digital Elevation Models (DEM).The objective of this study was to evaluate the infl uence of relief information sources (ASTER, SRTM-30, SRTM-90, and TOPO) over geomorphological characterization of fi ve Brazilian watersheds. Geoprocessing tools were applied for extraction of the following geomorphological attributes for each DEM: drainage area, perimeter, and watershed slope; length and slope of the main stream; total length of streams; bifurcation, stream length and stream area ratios; and length of the highest order stream. The differences in the values of attributes were calculated in relation to the reference DEM (TOPO). It was found that: i) slope of main stream and bifurcation ratio were the most sensitive parameters regarding the relief information source; ii) fl at watersheds were more susceptible to altimetric errors; iii) ASTER did not adequately represent drainage networks for fl at watersheds; and iv) the differences in the geomorphological attributes increased as drainage area decreased. The results indicate that DEM may exert infl uence on the use of hydrological models that depend on geomorphological attributes.

Stream Network Modeling Using Remote Sensing Data in an Alpine Cold Catchment

“…In a small alpine catchment, however, DEM can accurately reflect the land surface. The smaller the basin area is, the more obvious the impact of geomorphic attribute differences on the hydrological model is [28].…”