Ridge density analysis

Ridge Density as a Topographic Fingerprint of Landscapes This repository contains the code and datasets used to compute ridge density from Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) using flow accumulation–based methods. Ridge density is defined as the ratio of ridge pixels (locations with no upstream contributing area, i.e., flow accumulation = 1) to the total number of valid DEM pixels, and serves as a quantitative descriptor of landscape structure and geomorphic organization. The workflow is implemented in Python and is designed to be simple, reproducible, and applicable across a range of natural landscapes. The analysis relies on standard raster-based operations and can be extended to other regions with similar datasets. The DEMs used in this study are provided in the study_basins folder. These datasets were obtained from publicly available sources, including the USGS EarthExplorer and the USGS 3D Elevation Program. Users can access and download additional DEMs from these platforms.