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The Channel-Hillslope Integrated Landscape Development Model (CHILD)

  • Chapter
Landscape Erosion and Evolution Modeling

Abstract

Numerical models of complex Earth systems serve two important purposes. First, they embody quantitative hypotheses about those systems and thus help researchers develop insight and generate testable predictions. Second, in a more pragmatic context, numerical models are often called upon as quantitative decision-support tools. In geomorphology, mathematical and numerical models provide a crucial link between small-scale, measurable processes and their long-term geomorphic implications. In recent years, several models have been developed that simulate the structure and evolution of three-dimensional fluvial terrain as a consequence of different process “laws” (e.g., Willgoose et al., 1991a; Beaumont et al., 1992; Chase, 1992; Anderson, 1994; Howard, 1994; Tucker and Slingerland, 1994; Moglen and Bras, 1995). By providing the much-needed connection between measurable processes and the dynamics of long-term landscape evolution that these processes drive, mathematical landscape models have posed challenging new hypotheses and have provided the guiding impetus behind new quantitative field studies and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) -based analyses of terrain (e.g., Snyder et al., 2000). The current generation of models, however, shares a number of important limitations. Most models rely on a highly simplified representation of drainage basin hydrology, treating climate through a simple “perpetual runoff” formulation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

    Gregory Tucker, Stephen Lancaster, Nicole Gasparini & Rafael Bras

Authors
  1. Gregory Tucker
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  2. Stephen Lancaster
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  3. Nicole Gasparini
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  4. Rafael Bras
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Army Research Office, Army Research Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

    Russell S. Harmon

  2. Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

    William W. Doe III

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Tucker, G., Lancaster, S., Gasparini, N., Bras, R. (2001). The Channel-Hillslope Integrated Landscape Development Model (CHILD). In: Harmon, R.S., Doe, W.W. (eds) Landscape Erosion and Evolution Modeling. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0575-4_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0575-4_12

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