Statistical methods for describing seafloor topography

• Published in: Geophysical research letters Vol. 14; no. 10; pp. 1061 - 1064
• Main Authors: Shaw, Peter R., Smith, Deborah K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.10.1987
• Subjects: Histograms; Marine; Roughness; Samples; Sea beds; Slopes; Statistical methods; Topography; Variance

We present a method for objectively characterizing a swath of digitally sampled seafloor topography. Our method analyzes the distribution of surface slopes by compiling surface‐normal vectors into a two‐dimensional histogram using an equal‐area projection. The direction of maximum variance (first pr...