Topographic Roughness

Module 6 of 7 · Advanced ArcGIS Pro Topics

Overview

There are lots of ways to define the roughness or ruggedness of a landscape. This module will describe several that I have run across, along with my thoughts on a few of them. In general, like most things, there are not really “right vs. wrong” ways to do it. Different methods are appropriate for different questions. The landscape characteristics that would be considered "rugged" are likely different for bighorn sheep and cougars than they are for highway engineers. And ruggedness of the general landscape can be different than the ruggedness of a path that traverses that landscape.

Some general ways to think of topographic roughness include Variation in Elevation, Steepness, Curvature, Variation in Direction, Rippling and Fractal Dimension.

Lectures and lab videos

Lecture videos Still being recorded

The lecture videos for this module are not online yet; the slides and the written lecture notes and lab exercises below cover the material.

Lab exercise videos Still being recorded

The lab exercise videos for this module are not online yet; the slides and the written lecture notes and lab exercises below cover the material.

Slides, notes and downloads

Slides View or download Powerpoint Slides

This is just the original Powerpoint file, in case you want to review it. The document Topographic Roughness: Lecture Notes and Lab Exercises has comments and notes that describe each slide.

Lecture notes and lab exercises View or download Topographic Roughness: Lecture Notes and Lab Exercises

Here is a written discussion that goes with the lecture videos, and step-by-step instructions on how to do the lab exercises. You need to download this one to do the lab exercises!