Scaling regimes of local slope versus contributing area in digital elevation models

Four scaling regimes are observed in Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) when the average local slope is calculated for pixels grouped according to the values of the contributing area. Threshold criteria, proposed by various researchers to identify the extent of the channel network, are examined relative to the slope-area scaling diagram. The scaling response observed in DEMs is reproduced with a landscape evolution and channel network growth model originally developed by Willgoose et al. (1989). The threshold criterion proposed in this model is a useful tool to separate two different slope-area scaling regimes observed in DEM data.