How to Use Python to Create and Analyze DEM Surfaces
The Essential Surface Tools in Python for DEM — Part 1
Published in
3 min readAug 30, 2023
Surface analysis is a set of techniques to extract information about a terrain's surface. It can be used for various purposes, such as Natural Resource Management, Transportation Planning and Environmental Monitoring.
In this article, we will use Python to perform surface analysis of a Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Before jumping into the code, let us explain what surface analysis techniques exist.
Surface Analysis Techniques
Several different techniques can be used to extract information about a terrain's surface for surface analysis, including:
- Slope: Slope is a measure of the steepness of a surface. It is calculated by measuring the change in elevation over a specific distance.
- Aspect: Aspect measures the direction in which a surface faces. It is calculated by measuring the direction of the steepest slope.
- Hillshade: Hillshade is a measure of the amount of sunlight that a surface receives. It is calculated by considering the sun's position in the sky, the surface's slope, and the surface's aspect.
- Curvature: Curvature measures the degree to which a surface is curved…