Lab 7- Digital Elevation Model

The Digital Elevation Models, as well as the 3D image above, represent an area in Southwestern California near the Los Angeles region. Because the geographic information is projected using latitude 0 and longitude -117, with the North American Datum of 1983, UTM Zone 11, the geographic coordinate system used to represent the location is GCS North American 1983. At 34.414 degrees North and -118.053 degrees West (also, -34.229 degrees South and 117.856 degrees East) the topography is variable in elevation, indicative of a mountainous terrain with changing slopes and slope aspects. Slope, which is the derivative of the Digital Elevation Model, is a measurement of the percent rise or fall of an elevation against the land's horizontal distance. A majority of the slope faces are only slightly steep, with vertical measurements tending between either 0 and 16 degrees or 45 and 67 degrees, the highest of which tend towards the middle with more gentle slopes toward the periphery of the region. The aspect, however, is the horizontal direction in which the slope faces, measured in degrees clockwise from the North. The aspects of the various mountainous formations ranged most from 112.5-247.5 degrees, meaning they primarily face to the South (with Southwestern and Southeastern variations. There are some steeper slopes with sides also angled toward the Northwest starting at 292.5 degrees, but the primary view of the observer is looking at the range from a southern vantage point.