r.divergence - GRASS GIS manual

Note: This document is for an older version of GRASS GIS that has been discontinued. You should upgrade, and read the current manual page.

NAME

r.divergence - Computes divergence of a vector field defined by magnitude and direction

KEYWORDS

raster, divergence

SYNOPSIS

r.divergence

r.divergence --help

r.divergence magnitude=name direction=name output=name [--overwrite] [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--ui]

Flags:

--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:

magnitude=name [required]: Name of input raster map representing magnitude
direction=name [required]: Name of input raster map representing direction; Direction is in degrees ccw from the east
output=name [required]: Name of output divergence raster

DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
SEE ALSO
AUTHORS

DESCRIPTION

Module r.divergence computes the divergence of a vector field given by magnitude and direction raster maps. Direction is in degrees counterclockwise from the east and can be computed using r.slope.aspect. This module can be used for estimating erosion and deposition rates for a steady state overland flow using USPED (Unit Stream Power based Erosion Deposition) model. Net erosion/deposition is estimated as a change in sediment flow rate expressed by a divergence in sediment flow.

EXAMPLES

In North Carolina sample dataset, we compute net erosion/deposition.

g.region raster=elev_lid792_1m -p
r.slope.aspect elevation=elev_lid792_1m slope=slope aspect=aspect
r.flow elevation=elev_lid792_1m flowaccumulation=flowacc

# exponents m=1.3 and n=1.2
# multiply flowaccumulation by cell area/resolution to get contributing area per unit width
r.mapcalc "sflowtopo = pow(flowacc * 1.,1.3) * pow(sin(slope),1.2)"

# Compute sediment flow by combining the rainfall, soil and land cover factors
# with the topographic sediment transport factor.
# We use a constant value of 270. for rainfall intensity factor.
r.mapcalc "sedflow = 270. * soils_Kfactor * cfactorbare_1m * sflowtopo"
r.divergence magnitude=sedflow direction=aspect output=erosion_deposition

# set suitable color table
r.colors map=erosion_deposition rules=- << EOF
0% 100 0 100   #dark magenta
-100 magenta
-10 red
-1 orange
-0.1 yellow
0 200 255 200     #light green
0.1 cyan
1 aqua
10 blue
100 0 0 100       #dark blue
100% black
EOF

AUTHORS

Anna Petrasova, NCSU GeoForAll Lab
Helena Mitasova, NCSU GeoForAll Lab

SOURCE CODE

Available at: r.divergence source code (history)

Latest change: Wednesday Mar 11 08:17:30 2026 in commit: 2a14bbb9928039c7c7d0ac539d42b08ff72c88f7