A geomorphometric analysis of Poland based on the SRTM-3 data

Abstract

The paper presents a range of geomorphometric analyses of Polish territory using both classical and new approaches. The classical outcomes include maps of hypsometry, relative altitude, angle of slope and exposure, as well as altitudes broken down into ranges and angle of slopes in percentages broken down by administrative province. The new approach included the presentation of land relief through standard deviations of relative elevation in regular geometric fields. Maps of hypsometry, elevation difference, angle of slope, exposure and standard deviation were also presented. The survey involved elevation data from the SRTM-3 satellite with a resolution of 3×3' (60-65×90 m), which were converted for research purposes into a grid of 125×125 m and then into hexagons with a surface area of 0.14 and 3 km2. This level of detail makes the data particularly useful in morphometric analyses, including in applied research. Certain terrain coverage elements, such as forests, especially in lowland and flatland areas, affected the data and would have to be filtered out in applications requiring even higher accuracy. © Przemysław Śleszyński.