GRASS GIS manual: r.stream.distance

NAME

r.stream.distance - Calculates distance to and elevation above streams and outlet.
The module can work in stream mode where target are streams and outlets mode where targets are outlets.

KEYWORDS

raster, hydrology, stream network, watercourse distance

SYNOPSIS

r.stream.distance

r.stream.distance --help

r.stream.distance [-osnm] stream_rast=name direction=name [elevation=name] method=string [distance=name] [difference=name] [memory=integer] [--overwrite] [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--ui]

Flags:

-o: Calculate parameters for outlets (outlet mode) instead of (default) streams
-s: Calculate parameters for subbasins (ignored in stream mode)
-n: Calculate nearest local maximum (ignored in downstream calculation)
-m: Use memory swap (operation is slow)
--overwrite: Allow output files to overwrite existing files
--help: Print usage summary
--verbose: Verbose module output
--quiet: Quiet module output
--ui: Force launching GUI dialog

Parameters:

stream_rast=name [required]: Name of input raster map with stream network (in outlet mode is the name for outlet raster map)
direction=name [required]: Name of input raster map with flow direction
elevation=name: Name of input elevation raster map
method=string [required]: Calculation method; Options: upstream, downstream; Default: downstream
distance=name: Name for output distance raster map
difference=name: Name for output elevation difference raster map
memory=integer: Max memory used in memory swap mode (MB); Default: 300

DESCRIPTION
OPTIONS
NOTES
EXAMPLE
SEE ALSO
AUTHOR

DESCRIPTION

The module r.stream.distance can calculate: the distance to streams; the distance to outlet; the relative elevation above streams; the relative elevation above the outlet. The distance and the elevation are calculated along watercourses.

The module may calculate the distance either downstream or upstream. The default is set on downstream. The upstream method calculates the distance to the local maximum or divide. Opposite to downstream method, where every cell has one and only one downstream cell, in upstream method every cell has usually more than one upstream cell. So it is impossible to determine interchangeable path from any cell.

The upstream method offers two alternative modes switched with -n flag: the nearest local maximum/divide is the shortest path to the local maximum; and the farthest maximum/divide is the longest path (default option). In hydrological sense, the nearest option means the shortest path which a particle of water must run from the divide to reach a particular pixel, while the farthest option means the possible longest path.

In outlets mode, the module can optionally be used for subbasins.

In streams mode (default) it calculates the distance (downstream) to the stream network taken in input. In outlets mode there are some additional possibilities. If the subbasin option is set off, it calculates the distance only for the outlet (downstream). If the subbasin option is set on, it calculates the distance to outlet for every subbasin separately. The subbasin option acts similarly to a subbasin mask. The module r.stream.basins can be used to prepare the stream network map taken in input by r.stream.distance. In fact it can be used to individuate basins and subbasins.

In lat-long locations, the module gives distances not in degrees but in meters.

OPTIONS

-o: Outlets. Downstream method only. Calculate distance to or elevation above the outlet instead of streams. It chooses only the last outlet in the network ignoring nodes.
-s: Subbasins. Downstream method only. Calculate distance to or elevation above stream nodes instead of streams. The distance and the elevation difference are relative to elementary subbasins instead of the whole basin.
-n: Near. For upstream method only. Calculate distance to or elevation above the nearest local maximum/divide. With the default option, the distance/elevation is calculated to the farthest possible maximum/divide.
stream_rast: Stream network: name of input stream network map, produced using either r.watershed or r.stream.extract. Since stream network maps produced by r.watershed and r.stream.extract may slightly differ in detail, it is required to use both stream and direction maps produced by the same module. Non-stream cell values must be set to NULL. Alternatively, in outlet mode, it's the raster map of the outlet.
direction: Flow direction: name of input raster map with flow direction, produced using either r.watershed or r.stream.extract. If r.stream.extract output map is used, it is non-NULL only where streams occur and NULL elsewhere. NULL (nodata) cells are ignored, zero and negative values are valid direction data only if they vary from -8 to 8 (CCW from East in steps of 45 degrees). Flow direction map shall be of integer type (CELL).
elevation: Elevation: name of input elevation map. It can be of type CELL, FCELL or DCELL.
method: It is possible to calculate the distance with two method: downstream from any raster cell to the nearest stream cell / junction cell or outlet or upstream from any cell upstream to the nearest maximum or divide.
difference: Name of output map of elevation difference to the target (outlet, node, stream, divide, maximum) along watercoures. The map is of DCELL type.
distance: Name of output map of distance to the target (outlet, node, stream, divide, maximum) along watercoures. The map is of DCELL type.

NOTES

In stream mode subbasin options is omitted. Input maps must be in CELL format (default output of r.watershed, r.stream.order and r.stream.extract). The distance is calculated in meters, for flat areas not corrected by topography. Distance correction by topography may be done using the following r.mapcalc formula:

r.mapcalc expression = "dist_corrected = sqrt(distance^2 + elevation^2)"

The module can work only if direction map, streams map and region have the same settings. This is checked by default. If resolutions differ, the module informs about it and stops. Region boundary and maps boundary may differ but it may lead to unexpected results. The elevation map is not affected by this restriction and can have whatever resolution.

It is also required that stream_rast and direction maps come from the same source, e.g. both from r.stream.extract. If the stream network was generated with MFD method also MFD direction map must be used.

Probably one of the most important features of r.stream.distance is the ability to calculate the distance not only for streams generated by r.stream.extract, but also for any integer map, as long ast the resolution corresponds to that of direction map. It can be a lake, swamp, depression and lake boundaries even divided into smaller fragments each with its own category.

EXAMPLE

    
# Set the region to match with elevation map
g.region -pa raster=elevation

# Calculate flow direction and stream network
r.watershed elevation=elevation threshold=10000 drainage=direction stream=streams

# Calculate elevation above and distance to stream network using downstream method
r.stream.distance stream_rast=streams direction=direction elevation=elevation \
  method=downstream distance=distance_stream_downstream difference=difference_stream_downstream
  
# Calculate elevation above and distance to stream network using upstream method
r.stream.distance stream_rast=streams direction=direction elevation=elevation \
  method=upstream distance=distance_stream_upstream difference=difference_stream_upstream
  
# Create outlet
echo "636645,218835" | v.in.ascii -n input=- output=outlet separator=","

# Convert outlet to raster
v.to.rast input=outlet output=outlet use=cat

# Calculate distance to and elevation above outlet
r.stream.distance -o stream_rast=outlet direction=direction elevation=elevation \
  method=downstream distance=distance2outlet difference=difference2outlet

AUTHOR

Jarek Jasiewicz, Adam Mickiewicz University, Geoecology and Geoinformation Institute.

Last changed: $Date: 2015-09-30 17:43:34 +0200 (Wed, 30 Sep 2015) $

SOURCE CODE

Available at: r.stream.distance source code (history)