Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10553/43169
Title: Surface fitting in geomorphology - Examples for regular-shaped volcanic landforms
Authors: Favalli, M.
Karátson, D.
Yepes, J. 
Nannipieri, L.
UNESCO Clasification: 250607 Geomorfología
250621 Vulcanología
Keywords: Surface fitting
Volcano shape
Regular surface
DEM-based morphometry
Issue Date: 2014
Publisher: 0169-555X
Journal: Geomorphology 
Abstract: In nature, several types of landforms have simple shapes: as they evolve they tend to take on an ideal, simple geometric form such as a cone, an ellipsoid or a paraboloid. Volcanic landforms are possibly the best examples of this “ideal” geometry, since they develop as regular surface features due to the point-like (circular) or fissure-like (linear) manifestation of volcanic activity. In this paper, we present a geomorphometric method of fitting the “ideal” surface onto the real surface of regular-shaped volcanoes through a number of case studies (Mt. Mayon, Mt. Somma, Mt. Semeru, and Mt. Cameroon). Volcanoes with circular, as well as elliptical, symmetry are addressed. For the best surface fit, we use the minimization library MINUIT which is made freely available by the CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research). This library enables us to handle all the available surface data (every point of the digital elevation model) in a one-step, half-automated way regardless of the size of the dataset, and to consider simultaneously all the relevant parameters of the selected problem, such as the position of the center of the edifice, apex height, and cone slope, thanks to the highly performing adopted procedure. Fitting the geometric surface, along with calculating the related error, demonstrates the twofold advantage of the method. Firstly, we can determine quantitatively to what extent a given volcanic landform is regular, i.e. how much it follows an expected regular shape. Deviations from the ideal shape due to degradation (e.g. sector collapse and normal erosion) can be used in erosion rate calculations. Secondly, if we have a degraded volcanic landform, whose geometry is not clear, this method of surface fitting reconstructs the original shape with the maximum precision. Obviously, in addition to volcanic landforms, this method is also capable of constraining the shapes of other regular surface features such as aeolian, glacial or periglacial landforms.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10553/43169
ISSN: 0169-555X
DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.06.009
Source: Geomorphology[ISSN 0169-555X],v. 221, p. 139-149
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