Frontiers in Geomorphometry and Earth Surface Dynamics: possibilities, limitations and perspectives

Abstract

Geomorphometry, the science of quantitative land-surface analysis, has become a flourishing interdisciplinary subject, with applications in numerous fields. The interdisciplinarity of geomorphometry is its greatest strength and also one of its major challenges. Gaps are still present between the process focussed fields (e.g. soil science, glaciology, volcanology) and the technical domain (such as computer science, statistics …) where approaches and theories are developed. Thus, interesting geomorphometric applications struggle to jump between process-specific disciplines, but also struggle to take advantage of advances in computer science and technology. This special issue is therefore focused on facilitating cross-fertilization between disciplines, and highlighting novel technical developments and innovative applications of geomorphometry to various Earth-surface processes. The issue collects a variety of contributions which fall into two main categories: Perspectives and Research, further divided into “Research and innovative techniques” and “Research and innovative applications”. It showcases potentially exciting developments and tools which are the building blocks for the next step-change in the field.