Ubuntu Manpage: r.slope.aspect - Generates raster maps of slope, aspect, curvatures and partial derivatives from a

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NAME

       r.slope.aspect   -  Generates  raster  maps  of  slope, aspect, curvatures and partial derivatives from a
       elevation raster map.
       Aspect is calculated counterclockwise from east.

KEYWORDS

       raster, terrain

SYNOPSIS

       r.slope.aspect
       r.slope.aspect help
       r.slope.aspect  [-qa]  elevation=name   [slope=name]    [aspect=name]    [format=string]    [prec=string]
       [pcurv=name]      [tcurv=name]      [dx=name]      [dy=name]     [dxx=name]     [dyy=name]     [dxy=name]
       [zfactor=float]   [min_slp_allowed=float]   [--overwrite]  [--verbose]  [--quiet]

   Flags:
       -q
           Quiet

       -a
           Do not align the current region to the elevation layer

       --overwrite
           Allow output files to overwrite existing files

       --verbose
           Verbose module output

       --quiet
           Quiet module output

   Parameters:
       elevation=name
           Name of elevation raster map

       slope=name
           Name for output slope raster map

       aspect=name
           Name for output aspect raster map

       format=string
           Format for reporting the slope
           Options: degrees,percent
           Default: degrees

       prec=string
           Type of output aspect and slope maps
           Options: default,double,float,int
           Default: float

       pcurv=name
           Name for output profile curvature raster map

       tcurv=name
           Name for output tangential curvature raster map

       dx=name
           Name for output first order partial derivative dx (E-W slope) raster map

       dy=name
           Name for output first order partial derivative dy (N-S slope) raster map

       dxx=name
           Name for output second order partial derivative dxx raster map

       dyy=name
           Name for output second order partial derivative dyy raster map

       dxy=name
           Name for output second order partial derivative dxy raster map

       zfactor=float
           Multiplicative factor to convert elevation units to meters
           Default: 1.0

       min_slp_allowed=float
           Minimum slope val. (in percent) for which aspect is computed
           Default: 0.0

DESCRIPTION

r.slope.aspect generates raster maps of slope, aspect, curvatures and first and second order partial
derivatives from a raster map of true elevation values. The user must specify the input elevation file
name and at least one output file name. The user can also specify the format for slope (degrees, percent;
default=degrees), and the zfactor: multiplicative factor to convert elevation units to meters; (default
1.0).

The elevation input raster map specified by the user must contain true elevation values, not rescaled or
categorized data. If the elevation values are in feet or other units than meters (with a conversion
factor meters:, defined in PROJ_UNITS), they must be converted to meters using the parameter zfactor.

The aspect output raster map indicates the direction that slopes are facing. The aspect categories
represent the number degrees of east. Category and color table files are also generated for the aspect
map layer. The aspect categories represent the number degrees of east and they increase counterclockwise:
90deg is North, 180 is West, 270 is South 360 is East. The aspect value 0 is used to indicate undefined
aspect in flat areas with slope=0.

The slope output raster map contains slope values, stated in degrees of inclination from the horizontal
if format=degrees option (the default) is chosen, and in percent rise if format=percent option is chosen.
Category and color table files are generated.

Profile and tangential curvatures are the curvatures in the direction of steepest slope and in the
direction of the contour tangent respectively. The curvatures are expressed as 1/metres, e.g. a curvature
of 0.05 corresponds to a radius of curvature of 20m. Convex form values are positive and concave form
values are negative.

Example DEM
|
|

Slope (degree) from example DEM
|

Aspect (degree) from example DEM
|

Tangential curvature (m-1) from example DEM
|

Profile curvature (m-1) from example DEM
|

For some applications, the user will wish to use a reclassified raster map of slope that groups slope
values into ranges of slope. This can be done using r.reclass. An example of a useful reclassification is
given below:
(in degrees) (in percent)
1 0- 1 0- 2%
2 2- 3 3- 5%
3 4- 5 6- 10%
4 6- 8 11- 15%
5 9- 11 16- 20%
6 12- 14 21- 25%
7 15- 90 26% and higher
The following color table works well with the above
reclassification.
category red green blue
0 179 179 179
1 0 102 0
2 0 153 0
3 128 153 0
4 204 179 0
5 128 51 51
6 255 0 0
7 0 0 0

NOTES

To ensure that the raster elevation map layer is not inappropriately resampled, the settings for the
current region are modified slightly (for the execution of the program only): the resolution is set to
match the resolution of the elevation map and the edges of the region (i.e. the north, south, east and
west) are shifted, if necessary, to line up along edges of the nearest cells in the elevation map. If the
user really wants the elevation map resampled to the current region resolution, the -a flag should be
specified.

The current mask is ignored.

The algorithm used to determine slope and aspect uses a 3x3 neighborhood around each cell in the
elevation file. Thus, it is not possible to determine slope and aspect for the cells adjacent to the
edges in the elevation map layer. These cells are assigned a "zero slope" value (category 0) in both the
slope and aspect raster map layers.

Horn's formula is used to find the first order derivatives in x and y directions.

Only when using integer elevation models, the aspect is biased in 0, 45, 90, 180, 225, 270, 315, and 360
directions; i.e., the distribution of aspect categories is very uneven, with peaks at 0, 45,..., 360
categories. When working with floating point elevation models, no such aspect bias occurs.

Because most cells with a very small slope end up having category 0, 45, ..., 360, it is sometimes
possible to reduce the bias in these directions by filtering out the aspect in areas where the terrain is
almost flat. A new option min_slp_allowed was added to specify the minimum slope for which aspect is
computed. The aspect for all cells with slope < min_slp_allowed is set to null.

REFERENCE

                      Horn, B. K. P. (1981). Hill Shading and the Reflectance  Map,  Proceedings  of  the  IEEE,
                     69(1):14-47.

                      Mitasova,  H.  (1985).  Cartographic  aspects  of  computer  surface modeling. PhD thesis.
                     Slovak Technical University , Bratislava

                      Hofierka, J., Mitasova, H., Neteler, M., 2009. Geomorphometry in GRASS GIS.  In: Hengl, T.
                     and  Reuter, H.I. (Eds), Geomorphometry: Concepts, Software, Applications.  Developments in
                     Soil Science, vol. 33, Elsevier, 387-410 pp, http://www.geomorphometry.org

AUTHORS

       Michael Shapiro, U.S.Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory
       Olga Waupotitsch, U.S.Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory

       Last changed: $Date: 2011-11-08 03:29:50 -0800 (Tue, 08 Nov 2011) $

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