EXTRACTING STREAMS FROM DEM USING TERRAIN OPENNESS

This paper utilizes terrain openness in lieu of topographic curvature for efficient extraction of streams from digital elevation model (DEM) using a morphology-based algorithm. Application of this new method to a site in the Oregon Cascades shows a 20-fold increase in computational efficiency while yielding stream networks very similar to that extracted by a curvature-based algorithm. In addition, openness is less susceptible to DEM noise than the curvature making it a preferred attribute for streams extraction.