A simple method to estimate fractal dimension of mountain surfaces

الأصل · EN

Fractal surfaces are ubiquitous in nature as well as in the sciences. The examples range from the cloud boundaries to the corroded surfaces. Fractal dimension gives a measure of the irregularity in the object under study. We present a simple method to estimate the fractal dimension of mountain surface. We propose to use easily available satellite images of lakes for this purpose. The fractal dimension of the boundary of a lake, which can be extracted using image analysis softwares, can be determined easily which gives the estimate of the fractal dimension of the mountain surface and hence a quantitative characterization of the irregularity of the topography of the mountain surface. This value will be useful in validating models of mountain formation