Comparison of flow routing algorithms used in geographic information systems.

摘要

Flow direction and specific catchment area were calculated for different flow routing algorithms using TAPES-G and TauDEM. A fuzzy classification was used along with eight topo-climatic attributes to delineate six landscape classes from a 10-meter USGS DEM. A series of maps and tabular outputs were produced to compare flow routing predictions in different parts of the study area. The matched pair t-test was used to compare the performance of pairs of specific catchment area grids across six user-defined fuzzy landscape classes. The results show that: (1) the "source" cells predicted with the Dinfinity, DEMON, and FD8 algorithms were confined to hilltops; (2) two single flow routing algorithms (Rho8, D8) produced poor results; and (3) the choice of flow routing algorithm has important consequences for the calculation of upslope contributing areas, sediment transport capacity, topographic wetness, and several other terrain-based indices.