The research on landform characteristics and classification based on terrain feature is one of the key directions of topography. Since the Digital Terrain Model (DEM) is taken as more and more important datas ource in terrain analysis, the DEM-based macro terrain factors which are able to reflect the macro terrain relief is in urgent requirement. Previous researches show th at a topographic profile can reflect the important features of terrain surface. Howe ver, the anisotropy and randomness of a topographic section line limits its application in terrain representation. Therefore, this paper introduces a new conception of catch ment boundary profile spectrum which is immune to anisotropy. The Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi is chosen as the study area and some researches are done to analyze the char acteristics and the spatial distribution of the catchment boundary spectrum in different loess landform areas. Several quantitative indices are proposed for the quantitative describe on loess landform. Moreover, comprehensive depictio n, measure and graphical demonstration of the loess landform characteristics, landform complexity and the spatial distribution are investigated in the paper. The results show that the catc hment boundary spectrum can well describe the characteristics of different loess landform types to a certain extent. The interpolated surfaces of quantitive indices from 48 sample areas indicate more specific spatial distribution information of different loess landforms.
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