Summary
TauDEM (Terrain analysis using Digital Elevation Models) is a set of Digital Elevation Model (DEM) analysis tools developed by David Tarboton and students and colleagues in his group over the years with support from a variety of sponsors, whose support is gratefully acknowledged. These tools are targeted at extraction of information useful for hydrologic modeling and analysis from DEMs.
The TauDEM Toolbox currently provides the following capability:
- Pit removal by flooding to ensure hydraulic connectivity within the watershed.
- Computation of flow directions and slopes using single and multiple flow direction methods.
- Contributing area using single and multiple flow direction methods.
- Multiple methods for the delineation of channel networks including geomorphology-based methods sensitive to spatially variable drainage density.
- Objective methods for determination of the channel network delineation threshold based on stream drop analysis.
- Delineation of watersheds and subwatersheds draining to each stream segment and association between watershed and segment attributes for setting up hydrologic models.
- Specialized functions for terrain analysis, including:
- Slope over specific catchment area ratio which is the inverse of the wetness index.
- Distances down to streams and up to ridges along flow directions measured horizontally, vertically, in a straight line, or following the topographic profile.
- Upslope dependence function to map the locations upslope where activities have an effect on a downslope location.
- Decaying accumulation that evaluates upslope contribution subject to decay or attenuation.
- Concentration limited accumulation.
- Transport limited accumulation.
- Reverse accumulation.
- Avalanche runout.
- Average slope.
Toolsets
Basic Grid Analysis
The Basic Grid Analysis toolset contains tools that are core to most basic Digital Elevation Model (DEM) analyses, and provide inputs to many of the more advanced TauDEM tools.
Specialized Grid Analysis
The Specialized Grid Analysis toolset contains more advanced functions that can be invoked as needed.
Stream Network Analysis
The Stream Network Analysis toolset contains tools for creating and analyzing stream networks.
SINMAP Stability Index
The SINMAP toolset contains tools for creating SINMAP parameter regions and running SINMAP terrain stability analysis.