Geomorphological Mapping and Geospatial Technology

Abstract

Fieldwork and geomorphological mapping have been, and continue to be, important for the study of surface processes, process–form relationships, feedback mechanisms, system couplings, and landscape evolution. Geomorphological mapping has traditionally been a qualitative activity based upon human interpretation and intuition, but the rapid proliferation of geospatial technologies has transformed geomorphological assessment and mapping into an increasingly quantitative endeavor that is rapidly evolving. Numerous developments in geodesy, remote sensing, geographic information and geophysical technology, and high‐performance computing have revolutionized geomorphological mapping. These developments allow surface biophysical, morphological, and near‐surface spatiotemporal data to be integrated and used to develop maps that portray the complexity of geomorphological systems. As conceptual understanding of the landscape and human analytical reasoning continue to serve as the basis for geomorphological mapping, new methodological approaches are being developed to use analytical reasoning to objectively map individual landforms and the broader landscape. This requires, however, conceptual and mathematical formalization of issues in areas of data collection, representation, semantic modeling, scale, indeterminate boundaries, information extraction, information integration, and geovisualization to ensure that geomorphological mapping becomes fundamental to integrative science. Nevertheless, geographers will play a leading role in developing new geospatial technologies to improve the ability to study process mechanics, rates and regimes, process–form relationships, scale dependencies of surface processes and feedback mechanisms, and polygenetic landscape evolution.