Automated pattern-recognition of geomorphic features from DEMs and satellite images

We describe several approaches to the automated recognition of geomorphic features, eg landslides or strike ridge and cuesta patterns, from Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) and satellite imagery, including radar data. A parametric method recognizes landslide patterns in Peru from SPOT imagery and a DEM, mainly by pointing out curved contours and related parameters. A stochastic pattern-recognition method computing the local fractal dimension enables us to map landslide patterns in southeastern France from a DEM and a digitized geological map. Structural syntactic techniques have been applied to DEMs and radar images to map strike ridges or cuestas and landslides. -from Authors