290091 VU Geoscripting in Geomorphology (2014W)

The increasing amount of geodata by means of remote sensing, such as 3D point clouds, demands for automated processing and analysis of the acquired datasets. Particularly in geomorphology the automation of geoprocessing is a prerequisite for establishing monitoring systems and to connect data from different sources, such as multi-temporal field sensor measurements and remote sensing datasets. Geoscripting means using a scripting/programming language (here: Python) to develop new tools for data processing and analysis. This course will teach how to design and implement specific geoscripting workflows for automated topographic analyses in geomorphology. The lecture part will cover the theoretical approach behind scripting in geomorphology and the lab course will provide hands-on experience for the development of own workflows. The exercise examples are built on recent research projects of the LiDAR Research Group Heidelberg (http://www.laserdata.info), which cover e.g. gully detection in Peru and geoarchaeology on Crete.