This research compares the potential of SRTM-V4.1 and ASTER-V2.1 with 30-m pixel size to derive topographic attributes （elevation, slopes, aspects, and flow accumulation） and hydrologic indices such as STI （sedimen...This research compares the potential of SRTM-V4.1 and ASTER-V2.1 with 30-m pixel size to derive topographic attributes （elevation, slopes, aspects, and flow accumulation） and hydrologic indices such as STI （sediment transport index）, CTI （compound topographic index） and SPI （stream power index） to detect areas associated with flash floods cansed by rainfall storms and sediment accumulation. The study area is Guelmim city in Morocco, which has been flooded several times over the past 50 years, and which was declared a ＂disaster area＂ in December 2014 after violent rainfall storms killed 46 people and caused significant damage to the infrastructure. The obtained results indicate that the SRTM DEM performs better than ASTER in terms of micro-topography, hydrologic-network and structural information characterization. In addition, with reference to a topographic contours map （1：50000）, the derived global height surfaces accuracies are ＋3.15 m and 4-9.17 m for SRTM and ASTER, respectively. These accuracies are significantly influenced by topography; errors are larger （SRTM = 11.34 m, ASTER = 19.20 m） for high altitude terrain with strong slopes, while they are smaller （SRTM = 1.92 m, ASTER = 3.76 m） in the low to medium-relief areas with indulgent slopes. Moreover, all the considered hydrological indices are significantly characterized with SRTM compared to ASTER. They demonstrated that the rainfall and the topographic morphology are the major contributing factors in flash flooding and catastrophic inundation in this area. The runoff waterpower delivers vulnerable topsoil and contributes strongly to the erosion and transport of soil material and sediment to the plain areas through waterpower and gravity. Likewise, the role of the lithology associated with the terrain morphology is decisive in the erosion risk and land degradation in this region.展开更多
文摘This research compares the potential of SRTM-V4.1 and ASTER-V2.1 with 30-m pixel size to derive topographic attributes （elevation, slopes, aspects, and flow accumulation） and hydrologic indices such as STI （sediment transport index）, CTI （compound topographic index） and SPI （stream power index） to detect areas associated with flash floods cansed by rainfall storms and sediment accumulation. The study area is Guelmim city in Morocco, which has been flooded several times over the past 50 years, and which was declared a ＂disaster area＂ in December 2014 after violent rainfall storms killed 46 people and caused significant damage to the infrastructure. The obtained results indicate that the SRTM DEM performs better than ASTER in terms of micro-topography, hydrologic-network and structural information characterization. In addition, with reference to a topographic contours map （1：50000）, the derived global height surfaces accuracies are ＋3.15 m and 4-9.17 m for SRTM and ASTER, respectively. These accuracies are significantly influenced by topography; errors are larger （SRTM = 11.34 m, ASTER = 19.20 m） for high altitude terrain with strong slopes, while they are smaller （SRTM = 1.92 m, ASTER = 3.76 m） in the low to medium-relief areas with indulgent slopes. Moreover, all the considered hydrological indices are significantly characterized with SRTM compared to ASTER. They demonstrated that the rainfall and the topographic morphology are the major contributing factors in flash flooding and catastrophic inundation in this area. The runoff waterpower delivers vulnerable topsoil and contributes strongly to the erosion and transport of soil material and sediment to the plain areas through waterpower and gravity. Likewise, the role of the lithology associated with the terrain morphology is decisive in the erosion risk and land degradation in this region.
