Abstract
Decision Tree Delineating of Prominent Ridgelines in Los Angeles
Track: Ecology and Conservation
Author
The city of Los Angeles identified ridgeline vistas as one of Los Angeles' natural resources. Historically, development has occurred on lower lying, easily developable lands. Increasing population and social factors have contributed to escalate destruction of ridges. Although most of the ridgelines are protected by existing city ordinances there are still many hillside areas left unprotected. Therefore, identifying all prominent ridgelines in the city is vital for cataloging all unprotected ridgelines, analyzing the existing ridgeline protection regulation, and recommending any further protection measures.
USGS Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with 10m spatial resolution was used as an input for this study. In order to detect ridgelines from DEM, specific catchment areas were calculated. Boundaries of watershed areas were used as a "skeleton" for the ridgeline detection process. A decision tree, which was based on topographic positioning index, curvature and slope, was developed to differentiate prominent ridgelines from spurious ridgelines.
Sepalika Gunaratne
City of Los Angeles
200, N. Spring st, ##825
Los Angeles, California 90012
United States
Phone: 213-978-1463
Fax: 213-978-1404
E-mail: Sepalika.Gunaratne@lacity.org