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Calculate Curvature using Surface Parameters

Description​

Calculates the mean curvature with the option to use an adaptive neighborhood size. Mean curvature describes the intrinsic convexity or concavity of the surface.

Usage​

This tool uses the Spatial Analyst Surface Parameters tool to calculate mean curvature. Like Surface Parameters, this tool gives users the option to implement an adaptive neighborhood size to compute curvature. The curvature raster output can be used as a predictor variable for wetland identification with the WIM workflow. Curvature can be used to describe the degree of convergence and acceleration of flow (Moore et al., 1991), making it a useful indicator of saturated and channelized areas (Agren et al., 2014; Hogg & Todd, 2007; Kloiber et al., 2015; Millard & Richardson, 2015; O'Neil et al., 2018; O'Neil et al., 2019; Sangireddy et al., 2016). Users should derive curvature from a smoothed, high resolution DEM to avoid microtopographic noise.

Parameters​

Parameter NameTypeDirectionData TypeDialog Reference
Input Smoothed DEMRequiredInputRaster LayerInput DEM that curvature will be computed from. The DEM should be high resolution (1 - 5m) and smoothed.
Neighborhood Distance (meters)RequiredInputDoubleThe maximum neighborhood length (meters) that will be used by the adaptive neighborhood process for the Surface Parameters method. The adaptive neighborhood process optimizes the window size for which curvature is calculated based on local DEM variability. If the neighborhood distance is equal to the cell size of the input DEM, adaptive neighborhoods will not be used. See surface parameters tool documentation. Optimal maximum neighborhood length will vary by use case. Users may begin with a neighborhood length that corresponds to the minimum size of wetlands of interest.
Output Curvature Raster (*.tif)RequiredOutputRaster DatasetName of the resulting curvature raster. Must be in TIFF format. The output directory will be created if it does not exist.