Hello everyone
I have dataset with a 6km resolution and an elevation layer at 30m. Im trying to resample the elevation layer because I need them to align. I also generated a topographic ruggedness index and elevation standard deviation layer to look for variation. There are several hotspots, I used a 3x3 window and a 200x200 (for a 6km resolution/difference in variation) one. Theres obviously more variation with the larger window.
Anyone know how to deal with this issue, is there a different process? The variation appears to be around the mountainous areas/steep surfaces. How does one deal with the error/variation if you need to change the resolution of a dem raster.
Dear Lavinia,
You can use more high quality data like 12.5m resolution that can be checked your error and given you more accurate results with proper variation in the elevation. You can use this link to get the high resolution DEM data for your topographic ruggedness index.
https://search.asf.alaska.edu/#/
Resampling to a coarser resolution provides the opportunity to calculate not just the mean elevation but also the standard deviation of elevation or the range of elevation within that 6 km cell if you wanted to get at the variation of elevation. For the ruggedness variable if you think that having high ruggedness areas within the 6 km cell is important than you might want to consider using maximum instead of or in addition to mean ruggedness.
If you are using ArcMap one way to operationalize this is to use the Block Statistics tool in Spatial Analyst.
Also important is to consider how the variables are being used. If they are being used for Species Distribution Modeling I'd recommend tying the variable to the biological needs of the species in the most direct way possible. All species exist within certain thermal ranges, have food requirement needs, and need shelter from predators so tying the variables to these sorts of processes make for more informative and interesting papers.
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