Digital Commons Network^™

Calculation Of The Cosmogenic Nuclide Production Topographic Shielding Scaling Factor For Large Areas Using Dems, Alexandru T. Codilean

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

The recent surge of applications using terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides (TCNs) to calculate catchment-averaged erosion rates from isotopic concentrations in fluvial sediment, and the prospect of coupling TCN production functions with numerical surface process models (SPMs), necessitate a fast and accurate algorithm for the calculation of topographic shielding. Topographic shielding refers to the proportion of the incoming cosmic radiation that is shielded by the surrounding topography, the scaling factor being defined as the ratio of the unshielded (total minus shielded) to the total (or maximum) cosmic ray flux (i.e. the flux received by a horizontal, unobstructed surface). Topography contributes to the …