Remote sensing data, such as satellite images, and remote sensing derived digital elevation models (DEMs) are credited by simplifying many geological processes that require costly and laborious field work, such as lineament extraction. Furthermore, the recent increase in the availability of DEMs from many free open sources as well as their advantages over satellite imagery have promoted their wide application as remote sensing methods for lineament extraction. The quality of a DEM affects the results of its application, and this quality is controlled by its vertical accuracy and spatial resolution. The objectives of this study were to assess and verify the effects of the vertical accuracies of DEMs on lineament extraction. The area around Baoji city, Shaanxi province, China, was selected as a case study and the lineaments were automatically extracted using the LINE algorithm of PCI Geomatica from three DEMs with different vertical accuracies: tri stereo ZY3 imagery derived DEM, SRTM1V3, and ASTGDEMV2. All of these DEMs have 1″ spatial resolution (approx. 30 m). The results showed that the vertical accuracy of the applied DEM affects the number, length, and density of the extracted lineaments, where these quantities increase with increasing vertical accuracy of the DEM. |
