Applications of hydrologic information automatically extracted from digital elevation models

Abstract Digital elevation models (DEMs) can be used to derive a wealth of information about the morphology of a land surface. Traditional raster analysis methods can be used to derive slope, aspect, and shaded relief information; recently‐developed computer programs can be used to delineate depressions, overland flow paths, and watershed boundaries. These methods were used to delineate watershed boundaries for a geochemical stream sediment survey, to compare the results of extracting slope and flow paths from DEMs of varying resolutions, and to examine the geomorphology of a Martian DEM.