Increasing understanding of large river dynamics through an open-source bedform toolbox
A Python package to measure bedform morphometrics from high-resolution bathymetric data.
We will develop an open-source Python package to programmatically and exhaustively measure dune shape from high-resolution riverbed elevation data. Currently, most of the software that exists to measure dune shape is written in MATLAB and cannot be used without the purchase of a cost-prohibitive license, limiting adoption of these workflows by the scientific community. Alternative manual methods of measuring dune shape require significant time investment, seldom achieve the measurement completeness provided by automated methods, and introduce potential measurement bias and error. This project will translate existing river dune shape analysis algorithms encoded in the MATLAB software package BAMBI (Bedform Analysis Method for Bathymetric Information) into an open-source Python package, providing the river research community with an accessible tool to reproducibly quantify dune shape. This targeted effort focused on building a new and reusable tool will benefit a wide swath of USGS researchers and is well-aligned with the CDI Guiding Principles.
A Python package to measure bedform morphometrics from high-resolution bathymetric data.
We will develop an open-source Python package to programmatically and exhaustively measure dune shape from high-resolution riverbed elevation data. Currently, most of the software that exists to measure dune shape is written in MATLAB and cannot be used without the purchase of a cost-prohibitive license, limiting adoption of these workflows by the scientific community. Alternative manual methods of measuring dune shape require significant time investment, seldom achieve the measurement completeness provided by automated methods, and introduce potential measurement bias and error. This project will translate existing river dune shape analysis algorithms encoded in the MATLAB software package BAMBI (Bedform Analysis Method for Bathymetric Information) into an open-source Python package, providing the river research community with an accessible tool to reproducibly quantify dune shape. This targeted effort focused on building a new and reusable tool will benefit a wide swath of USGS researchers and is well-aligned with the CDI Guiding Principles.