GEOMORPHOLOGY 3600 LAB 9

TOPIC: GIS lab 2 - exploring the topography of the Logan River catchment in GIS

OBJECTIVES:
In this lab, students will:
1) extract two catchments from a DEM
2) quantify and graph the topography of those catchments
3) analyze trends in terms of geologic differences across the catchment

Deliverables by FRIDAY AT 4 PM: email TA (james.mauch@yahoo.com) this Word .doc with

PART I: GETTING DATA SET UP FOR TWO STUDY CATCHMENTS, PROFILES

1) SAVE EVERYTHING TO YOUR JUMP DRIVE

START ARCMAP

In ArcMap, go into Catalog and click on the Connect to Folder button (circled below). Then choose
your data folder on your jump drive.

BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE IN ARCMAP: Go to Customize > Extensions and select the
3D Analyst and Spatial Analyst extensions.

SAVE YOUR ARCMAP PROJECT: Go to file, save, and save your ArcMap project into your Lab9 >>
work file on your jump drive.

2) GET DATA: Start browser, go to class webpage and download the Bear River Range DEM
(NED_93835159) and the Cache County watersheds coverage we will be using. Copy paste these
files into your data folder on your jump drive. Right-click and Extract both of these .zip folders into
your data folder. By the way, the DEM is from the online USGS Seamless Server which is an

1
 important resource for geoscientists, and the watershed coverage is from the State of Utahs AGRC
web portal, which we used in the first GIS lab.

3) IN ARCMAP, FIRST THING make sure that under View > Data Frame Properties, the Coordinate
System is set to Projected >> UTM >> NAD 1983 >> NAD83 ZONE 12N. Then Add Data (plus sign
icon) of your downloaded DEM (Ned_93835159). (To add data navigate to Folder Connections, and
find your data folder, then add data from there).

4) PROJECTING DEM: This DEM has not yet been projected into the correct units of elevation. In
order for our analyses to work properly, we need to project this DEM.

Open ArcToolbox and go to: Data Management Tools >> Projections and Transformations >> Raster
>> Project Raster. The Input Raster will be the DEM you just added. Save it to your data folder and
name the output so that you know it is projected (ex. proj_dem). For your coordinate system, choose
predefined UTM projection, NAD83, zone 12N. Once you have added the newly projected raster,
remove the unprojected raster by right clicking on the unprojected raster and selecting remove.

5) ADD CATCHMENTS: Now lets add the file of Cache County watersheds. Click on the Add Data
button and find this .shp (shapefile) in your data folder. It will be best to make this somewhat
transparent over your DEM so you can see what is going on. Right-click, go to Properties >> Display
tab >> Transparent, set to 50%, click OK.

6) SELECT SUBCATCHMENTS: You can see that there are several subcatchments contained in this
coverage. We will extract only the two catchment polygons we are interested in Card Canyon-
Logan River (lower Logan Canyon) and Right Fork Logan Canyon. (If instructor is not around to show
you, use the Identify tool to examine the properties associated with each subcatchment
HU_12_NAME is the field you want to look at to find these names.)

Grab the Select Features tool in the toolbar, and click on one of the subwatersheds to select it. DO
THIS ONE AT A TIME SO YOU END UP WITH TWO SEPARATE SHAPE FILES. Once it is selected,
export each catchment to a new shapefile: In the table of contents right-click on the original
watershed shapefile, and under Data>>Export Data, export the selected feature. Use the same
coordinate system as the data frame. Save it in your data folder as a .shp file, and name it something
sensible. (Below the name, there is a drop down menu beside Save as type: make sure that
Shapefile is selected). Go ahead and add it to ArcMap. Repeat for the next watershed. You can now
remove the original watershed layer.

7) EXTRACT SUBCATCHMENT DEMs: Now we have to extract two pieces of the underlying DEM
using these as our cookie cutter or mask. In ArcToolbox >> Spatial Analyst tools >> Extraction >>

2
 double-click Extract by Mask. The input raster will be your projected DEM, the mask will be the first
watershed polygon (you will have to do them one at a time). Name your new raster something
logical, putting it into your data folder. When it comes up in your map, you can make it different colors
or whatever you want to make it more visible and distinct. Repeat this step for the second watershed
polygon.

8) MAKING TOPOGRAPHIC PROFILES: Lets make a profile across each of the two catchments. Lets
do this across the approximate midpoint of the catchments and perpendicular to the trunk stream,
from hilltop to hilltop. Use the profiler tool you used in the first GIS lab, within the 3D analyst toolbar
(Customize >> toolbars >> 3D Analyst). Select the individual catchment DEMs as the Layer being
analyzed. Using the Interpolate Line icon, draw a line over the path you wish to profile, double
clicking to end the line. Click on the Create Profile Graph icon to produce a profile graph for each
catchment.

***If you are having trouble making a profile, make sure that the file you are making a profile for
appears in the drop down menu of the 3D analyst toolbar.

Enlarge your profile graphs and stretch them so your profiles have axes of about the same scale and
with NO vertical exaggeration (thus 200m vertically is the same length as 200m laterally, etc.).
Double-click on the graphs, go to Appearance tab, and change their TITLE and FOOTER to the
catchment name and your name, respectively. Then right-click and export the graphs as grayscale
jpegs to your work folder so that they can be placed at the end of this Word document and emailed to
the TA.

GO TO THE QUESTION PAGE AND ANSWER A

3
PART II: EXPLORING ELEVATION AND HILLSLOPE GRADIENT DATA

9) MAKING SLOPE MAPS: Lets explore the slopes of each of these watersheds. Go to ArcToolbox >>
Spatial Analyst Tools >> Surface >> Slope. Select one of your catchment DEMs as the input raster,
name and save your slope output map in your data folder. As you can see, you can set the output
slope to be reported in either degrees or percent, lets do degrees. Hit OK. Be sure to do this for both
catchments.

A new layer with gradient values at every point in the Raster has been created. Carefully observe
these slope maps, patterns in these will help in answering questions below.

10) RECLASSIFY SLOPE MAPS: We are going to reclassify and export slope data for your two
catchments, so we can make plots. We will change the maps so they have 5-degree groupings
(bins) of slope.

Select one of your catchment slope maps. In ArcToolbox, go to Spatial Analyst Tools >> Reclass >>
Reclassify and the window pops up. Reclassify the value field and click Classify button on right.
Use the Defined Interval method and interval size of 5 degrees. Click OK to close this window. Save
as a new output raster with a unique name to your data folder. For this newly reclassified raster, open
the attribute table by right-clicking it under Layers. Use the Table Options icon at the top left of that
window >> Export as a .dbf dBASE Table (database) file to your data folder. Do NOT add the table
to the map when it asks.

Do this same routine for reclassifying and exporting the other slope map.

11) CREATE HISTOGRAMS IN EXCEL: Histograms (bar graphs) are great for illustrating the distribution
of slope in these catchments.

Open Excel, and then directly open each of your two .dbf files (you will have to make Excel find
dBase or .dbf files). You see the numbered bins and values in the spreadsheet, but you now need to
type in the actual bin slope ranges in the next column to the right.

Now you can use the Excel Chart Wizard or Insert to create a histogram chart or graph for both
datasetsLABEL THEM to keep them distinct. Scale the histograms similarly so the two catchment
datasets can be visually compared. Save the Excel document to your work folder, and copy and
paste the two histograms at the end of this Word document.

12) COMPARE GEOLOGY OF CATCHMENTS: Go to the course webpage and download the Geologic
Map coverage. Extract this to your data folder, and bring it into GIS. If you right-click on the dataset in
the Table of Contents you can choose to add labels to the map units (Label Features), which will be
very helpful. To make each formation appear as a different color: Right click on the dataset and go to
Properties >> Symbology tab >> Categories >> Unique Values. In the Value Field dropdown select
Formation and then Add all values below. Click OK. Now all the formations will show up as
different colors which is helpful as well.

Observe/analyze the geology of your two study catchments. Do they contrast or are they similar in
underlying rock types and ages?

GOTO THE QUESTION PAGE AND ANSWER B

4
 QUESTION PAGESGIS lab 2

A) Make sure your exported topo profiles have axes of about the same scale and no vertical
exaggeration, and then paste them to the end of this Word document.

i) Visually compare the profiles within each catchment. Which is steepest overall? Which has more
relief? Which has the widest valley bottom? Which has more convex vs straight slopes?

Lets look at the basic topographic characteristics of the two catchmentsdata that were a sloppy pain in
the butt to get in the days before GIS. Select your catchment DEMs one at a time under Layers at the
left, right-click and go to Properties, Source tab, scroll down to Statistics to see the mean elevation, etc.
Fill out the table at bottom of page (round to the nearest integer). For the catchment area, select
your original Polygon shapefile of each catchment under Layers, right-click, and Open Attribute Table.
The Shape_Area column gives the area in square meters (note that one million m2 equals 1 km2).
Also, relief ratio = total relief (m) / catchment area (m2).

ii) OK, how do the total area and mean elevation of the two catchments compare?

iii) What is the standard deviation of elevation for each catchment? If this value (which is an
expression of the variation in elevation) is high versus low, describe in your words what this means
topographically?

iv) Both high total relief and relief ratio are used by geomorphologists to signify landscapes with
active uplift and erosion. Discuss-- by these two measures, what is the hypothetical relative tectonic
activity of the study catchments? Does that make sense considering regional geology or not? Why?

Lower Logan canyon Righthand Fork

catch. area (km2)

mean elevation (m)

st. dev. of elev. (m)

relief (m)

relief ratio (m-1)

5
B) Taking a gander at your histograms of slope within catchments

i) Describe the distribution of the slope histogram for each catchment. Is it a normal distribution (bell
curve)? Is it skewed towards high or low slopes? Compare and contrast between the two catchments.
Which has steeper slopes?

ii) Looking at these and the maps you made, where in each catchment are the steep hillslopes
concentrated? Is there a pattern?

iii) How do the two subcatchments compare in terms of bedrock geology? Discuss how they are
similar vs contrasting, and how this may relate to their topographic differences:

One common idea in geomorphology is that steeper slopes are eroding faster, and that the fastest-
eroding, most tectonically active landscapes have threshold hillslopesthat is, slopes are concentrated
near their steep angle of repose for mass-movement failure (typically ~30-35 degrees). Another true
statement is that hillslopes underlain by harder rock are steeper than those underlain by weaker rock.

iv) Considering all this hypothesize what might cause the patterns you have found. What
specifically might explain the difference between these two local catchments?