Seafloor Valley Shape Modeling

摘要

This paper presents a theoretical approach to the description of local seafloor relief shapes. A scale independent model is proposed which consists of a 3D schematized representation (shape skeleton) of the local seafloor features, i.e. most notably elongated features such as valleys and ridges. Skeletons are generated by computing orthogonal vertical sections that are extracted along ridges and valley lines. Such a schematized representation provides an interpretation schema of relief shapes. Thus the interpretation of the shape of a valley corresponds to the analysis of the set of lines composing the skeleton (i.e. the valley line and the set of related vertical sections) and the study of the evolution of the shape of adjacent vertical sections along the valley. The description of linear shapes is composed of symbolic and geometric shape descriptors, allowing scale independence. Furthermore, it defines several qualitative and quantitative elements for global DTM manipulation, such as shape interpretation and relief recognition.