Utilising published data for DTM construction and drainage basin delineation in the Modder River catchment, Free State, South Africa

Abstract

The proliferation of hardware and software to facilitate the use of computers in geomorphological research since 1990s has not only placed a premium on the collection of relevant data but also on the reliability of models prepared from such data. Data availability is often a serious drawback in the successful modelling of landscapes and geomorphological processes and often researchers have to make do with published data. Data from such secondary sources are frequently created for other purposes and are not always suitable for digital geomorphological modelling. This paper reports on a suggested methodology to incorporate as many terrain features as possible into a digital terrain model for a particular central South African landscape. It is shown that by carefully manipulating available data, an accurate presentation of the landscape can be created.

Keywords:

• digital terrain model
• drainage basins
• modelling
• flow lines
• interpolation