Morphometric measurements of bedrock rivers at different spatial scales and applications to geomorphological heritage research

Abstract

Morphometric characterisation is particularly relevant in the study of geomorphological heritage. 3D modelling techniques have been proven as very useful tools to recognise, characterise and valorise geomorphosites. Bedrock rivers account for one of the most outstanding aspects within geomorphological heritage due to the amount of distinctive and attractive geomorphological features associated to them and the high preservation of sculpted forms. Digital elevation models (DEMs) have made it increasingly possible to establish accurate morphometric indices and establish clearer connections between forms and processes. This paper reviews different methodologies to obtain DEMs on bedrock rivers. This review goes from DEM analysis at multiple spatial scales to introduce optical microrugosimeter as the latest technical development to facilitate micromorphometric analysis. Micromorphometric analysis opens the scope for improving the knowledge we have on trans-scale issues in bedrock rivers. Micromorphometric analysis also opens a new layer of information that enriches the public's valuation of geodiversity of geomorphosites by increasing its didactic and interpretative potential.

Lidar visualization techniques for the construction of geoarchaeological deposit models: An overview and evaluation in alluvial environments

“…Many of these are targeted toward the investigation of terrain and landform properties and are widely integrated within commercial GIS software and other open‐source tools (e.g., Whitebox tools; Szypuła, 2017). These also enable landform classifications (e.g., De Reu et al, 2013; Jasiewicz & Stepinski, 2013) or specific hydrological or morphometric characteristics to be defined (Gomez‐Heras et al, 2019). While they are not all relevant for geoarchaeological research, some are highly applicable for the visualization of low‐relief variations associated with landforms and archaeological features.…”

Aproximación a la identificación y caracterización de ríos en roca a escala regional mediante variables topo-geomorfológicas (Galicia, Noroeste de la Península Ibérica)

“…El objetivo del estudio, en consecuencia, consiste en aplicar una metodología apoyada en sistemas de información geográfica (SIG) que permita discriminar entre ríos potencialmente en roca de los que potencialmente no lo son. La interpretación de las características de los ReR es muy dependiente de la escala (Gómez-Heras et al, 2019), pudiéndose estudiar desde una microescala (milimétrica-centimétrica) a otra macro (de metros 10 0 -10 2 a kilómetros 10 2 -10 4 km 2 ). En este trabajo nos centramos en una tipificación de la red de drenaje de Galicia, por lo tanto, en unos valores que se podrían situar entre 10 2 -10 3 m a tenor del material cartográfico empleado para el desarrollo metodológico (ver sección correspondiente).…”

Multi-temporal UAV based repeat monitoring of rivers sensitive to flood

“…Geomorphic change detection (GCD) analysis method was implemented with the DEM of Difference (DoD) algorithm in order to estimate quantitative landform alterations, in various environments (Hicks, 2012;Wheaton et al, 2010). The geomorphic changes can be determined by in-channel landform change monitoring (Clapuyt et al, 2016;Cook, 2017;Javernick et al, 2014) and by morphometric measurements (Gómez-Heras et al, 2019) via UAS technologies. Further, the implementation of high-resolution topographic survey methods (Vericat et al, 2017) induced spatial investigation of topographic changes at multiple temporal and spatial scales.…”