The Stochastic Theory of Fluvial Landsurfaces

Abstract:

Complex landsurfaces composed of rock and sediment and eroded by turbulent overland flow constitute a challenging problem to model and simulate. The models producing realistic surfaces were developed in the 1970s but proved impossible to simulate until the advent of powerful computers and sophisticated in the 1990s. The presenter and his collaborators developed the first stochastic theory of landsurfaces in 2005 using separable surfaces based on these models. The mathematical tools are now available to develop the general theory and it will be discussed in this talk.