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taking the arc cosine of this ratio. Other functions of
slope, such as tangent or sine, can then be taken, and the
resulting value classified and napped.
Recall, however, that all orthogonal vectors have the same
z components. The strategy adopted here for rapid slope
mapping involves determining from the user - defined slope
class boundaries (presently specified in either degrees or
percent, but easily adapted) critical values for the length
of the orthogonal vector. This conversion is done outside
the loop which examines the data. Then for each point,
only this length is computed and the slope category deter
mined. To minimize I/O, the program checks to see if a
point is in the same slope class as the previous one, and
draws along the column only when the slope class changes.
Slope Aspect Map (DASPECT)
Slope aspect is of interest in a variety of natural science
and forestry applications. This can also be obtained
directly from the cross product vector. The aspect, in
radians clockwise from north, is simply the arctangent of
Xv/Yv. These values can then be classified and mapped.
Analytical Hill Shading (DS1IADE)
Analytical hill shading (Brassel) is an attempt to produce,
using the computer, a display which has the appearance of a
three-dimensional model illuminated by a single light
source. Generally, the surface is assumed to be of uniform
texture and albedo. Objects are assumed not to cast
shadows, and hence the process is strictly local.
According to the principles of physics, the brightness or
amount of light reflected under such circumstances should
equal the incident brightness (here, assumed to be of unit
value) times the cosine of the angle between the surface
orthogonal and the light source. If s is a unit vector
pointing toward the light source, and v is the orthogonal
vector, then the dot product v*s will be the desired cosine.
Any surface element for which the cosine is negative is
directed away from the light surface and hence should
appear black. For "physically-correct shading," the cosine
values can be divided into several equal intervals over the
range from one (white) to zero (black), and gray shades
assigned to these categories. negative values appear black,
ana only a surface perfectly orthogonal to the light source
would appear white.
The DEIIGS program DSHADE uses a standard "sun location" of
azimuth 315 degrees (sun from the northwest), and a sun
altitude of 45 degrees. Northwest lighting is known to pro
duce best results in perception of relief, but the user may
modify these default parameters.
With a light source 45 degrees above the horizontal, only
surfaces steeper than 45 degrees could have negative
cosines; at a slope of exactly 45 (100 percent), the
azimuth would furthermore have to be directly away from the
light. Similarly, white is only approached for slopes at
45 degrees, directly toward the light. Since slopes near
100 percent are very rare in most types of topography,