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Parameterizing and modeling of three-dimensional gravel desert surfaces

P Zhou, B F Liu, Caizhi Hu, Jianjun Qu

CATENA | Jul 4, 2026

Abstract

Abstract

Knowing the surface morphology of gravel is critical for understanding the landforms and surface processes of gravel deserts. However, previous methods often relied on two-dimensional (2D) parameters, failing to capture the three-dimensional (3D) geometry and non-uniform spatial clustering of individual gravels. To address this limitation, this study presents an innovative 3D characterization and reconstruction approach for desert gravels. Through the combination of Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry, spatial clustering, and statistical fitting, high-precision 3D morphological and spatial distribution parameters were successfully extracted from typical gravel deserts. Crucially, through the integration of these statistical characteristics and natural randomness, a novel gravel surface reconstruction software (Gravel 3D) was developed. This software can automatically generate arbitrary, realistic artificial 3D gravel surfaces. This approach provides realistic aerodynamic boundary simulations of different gravel surfaces on Earth and even Mars.

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Authors

Researchers on this paper

P Zhou

first | Chinese Academy of Sciences

B F Liu

middle | Chinese Academy of Sciences

Caizhi Hu

middle | Chinese Academy of Sciences

Jianjun Qu

last | Northwest University | ORCID 0009-0007-3118-3283

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Citation

BibTeX

@article{Zhou2026Parameterizing,
  title = {Parameterizing and modeling of three-dimensional gravel desert surfaces},
  author = {P Zhou and B F Liu and Caizhi Hu and Jianjun Qu},
  journal = {CATENA},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.catena.2026.110378},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2026.110378}
}

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