An integrated algorithm for depression filling and assignment of drainage directions over flat surfaces in digital elevation models

Depression filling and assignment of drainage directions over flat surfaces, two of the common requirements of digital terrain analysis and other related hydrological work, are usually considered as stand-alone steps. This paper presents an integrated algorithm and its pseudocode combining the two steps to increase the efficiency of the overall process. We have developed a Chain Code Matrix to take advantage of the process sequence in the depression filling, which points the drainage direction of cells on flat surfaces towards the lowest potential outlet. Therefore, to improve the drainage direction assignment on flat surfaces, the Chain Code Matrix can be used to guide the calculation of the gradient directly from higher towards lower terrain on flat surfaces instead of applying iterative searching. This avoids finding flat surfaces through the drainage direction calculation in the Digital Elevation Model, which is inevitable in the existing methods. We used the Digital Elevation Models of ten Chinese provinces from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data to validate the results and compare the speeds. The experiments show that the integrated algorithm provides the same result for depression filling and drainage directions on flat surfaces as the previous algorithms, but is more efficient.

[1]  G. Gartner,et al.  Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography , 2006 .

[2]  Helena Mitasova,et al.  Accurate stream extraction from large, radar-based elevation models , 2010 .

[3]  K. Beven,et al.  A physically based, variable contributing area model of basin hydrology , 1979 .

[4]  Michael C. Slattery,et al.  Downstream trends in discharge, slope, and stream power in a lower coastal plain river , 2007 .

[5]  David G. Tarboton,et al.  Generalized terrain-based flow analysis of digital elevation models , 2009 .

[6]  Serge Beucher,et al.  Hierarchical Queues: general description and implementation in MAMBA Image library , 2011 .

[7]  L. Martz,et al.  The assignment of drainage direction over flat surfaces in raster digital elevation models , 1997 .

[8]  Azriel Rosenfeld,et al.  Digital Detection of Pits, Peaks, Ridges, and Ravines , 1975, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics.

[9]  R. Bras,et al.  A physically-based method for removing pits in digital elevation models , 2007 .

[10]  Monia Santini,et al.  Hydrogeomorphic properties of simulated drainage patterns using digital elevation models: the flat area issue / Propriétés hydro-géomorphologiques de réseaux de drainage simulés à partir de modèles numériques de terrain: la question des zones planes , 2008 .

[11]  Frédéric Darboux,et al.  A fast, simple and versatile algorithm to fill the depressions of digital elevation models , 2002 .

[12]  Daniel J. Miller,et al.  Modeling Streams and Hydrogeomorphic Attributes in Oregon From Digital and Field Data 1 , 2008 .

[13]  Pi-Hui Huang,et al.  Automated suitable drainage network extraction from digital elevation models in Taiwan's upstream watersheds , 2006 .

[14]  Xulin Guo,et al.  Prediction of snowmelt derived streamflow in a wetland dominated prairie basin , 2010 .

[15]  Richard Barnes,et al.  An efficient assignment of drainage direction over flat surfaces in raster digital elevation models , 2015, Comput. Geosci..

[16]  Geoff Kite,et al.  Modelling the Mekong : hydrological simulation for environmental impact studies , 2001 .

[17]  U. Kitron,et al.  Hydrological modelling of snail dispersal patterns in Msambweni, Kenya and potential resurgence of Schistosoma haematobium transmission , 2006, Parasitology.

[18]  D. Alsdorf.  Water Storage of the Central Amazon Floodplain Measured with GIS and Remote Sensing Imagery , 2003 .

[19]  Jérôme Gensel,et al.  Bridging the Geographic Information Sciences: International AGILE'2012 Conference, Avignon (France), April, 24-27, 2012 , 2012, AGILE Conf..

[20]  Helena Mitasova,et al.  Efficient extraction of drainage networks from massive, radar-based elevation models with least cost path search , 2011 .

[21]  Luc Vincent,et al.  Watersheds in Digital Spaces: An Efficient Algorithm Based on Immersion Simulations , 1991, IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell..

[22]  John F. O'Callaghan,et al.  The extraction of drainage networks from digital elevation data , 1984, Comput. Vis. Graph. Image Process..

[23]  Liu Yonghe,et al.  Another Fast and Simple DEM Depression-Filling Algorithm Based on Priority Queue Structure , 2009 .

[24]  Pierre Soille,et al.  An Efficient Algorithm for Drainage Network Extraction on DEMs , 1994, J. Vis. Commun. Image Represent..

[25]  L. Martz,et al.  CATCH: a FORTRAN program for measuring catchment area from digital elevation models , 1988 .

[26]  I. Moore,et al.  Digital terrain modelling: A review of hydrological, geomorphological, and biological applications , 1991 .

[27]  Bruce L. Rhoads,et al.  Hydrodynamic and geomorphologic dispersion: scale effects in the Illinois River Basin , 2004 .

[28]  Fernand Meyer,et al.  Topographic distance and watershed lines , 1994, Signal Process..

[29]  S. K. Jenson,et al.  Extracting topographic structure from digital elevation data for geographic information-system analysis , 1988 .

[30]  Lawrence W. Martz,et al.  Numerical definition of drainage network and subcatchment areas from digital elevation models , 1992 .

[31]  E. O'Loughlin.  Prediction of Surface Saturation Zones in Natural Catchments by Topographic Analysis , 1986 .

[32]  Salles V. G. Magalhães,et al.  A New Method for Computing the Drainage Network Based on Raising the Level of an Ocean Surrounding the Terrain , 2012, AGILE Conf..

[33]  Francesco Brardinoni,et al.  Glacial erosion, evolution of river long profiles, and the organization of process domains in mountain drainage basins of coastal British Columbia , 2006 .

[34]  Richard Barnes,et al.  Priority-Flood: An Optimal Depression-Filling and Watershed-Labeling Algorithm for Digital Elevation Models , 2015, Comput. Geosci..

[35]  L. Wang,et al.  An efficient method for identifying and filling surface depressions in digital elevation models for hydrologic analysis and modelling , 2006, Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci..

[36]  Salvatore Grimaldi,et al.  Sensitivity of a physically based method for terrain interpolation to initial conditions and its conditioning on stream location , 2004 .

[37]  David A. Kinner,et al.  Initiation conditions for debris flows generated by runoff at Chalk Cliffs, central Colorado , 2008 .

[38]  Andrea Tribe,et al.  Automated recognition of valley lines and drainage networks from grid digital elevation models: a review and a new method , 1992 .