Earth Surface Dynamics
Earth Surface Dynamics
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Articles | Volume 9, issue 5
Articles | Volume 9, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1279-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1279-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 9, issue 5
Research article
 | 
20 Sep 2021
Research article |  | 20 Sep 2021

Hilltop curvature as a proxy for erosion rate: wavelets enable rapid computation and reveal systematic underestimation

William T. Struble and Joshua J. Roering

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Short summary
We used a mathematical technique known as a wavelet transform to calculate the curvature of hilltops in western Oregon, which we used to estimate erosion rate. We find that this technique operates over 1000 times faster than other techniques and produces accurate erosion rates. We additionally built artificial hillslopes to test the accuracy of curvature measurement methods. We find that at fast erosion rates, curvature is underestimated, raising questions of measurement accuracy elsewhere.
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