Landform pattern description from aerial photographs

Abstract A system is proposed to facilitate the delineation and description of regions of homogeneous landform pattern as perceived in aerial photographs. From resource survey experience in Papua New Guinea, a comprehensive suite of some sixty landform attributes is erected on the concept that a landform pattern may be described by altitude, relationship to planes of accordance, development of networks and lineations, proportional occurrence of landform elements and the organization of these landform elements in toposequences. It is argued that flexible landform classifications based on explicit attributes should replace classifications in which landforms are allocated to preconceived categories (pigeonholes) if landform classification is to contribute to the study of the genesis of landforms and their relationships to other phenomena.