Calculating the prominence and isolation of every mountain in the world

Abstract

A global-scale calculation identifies peaks in a digital elevation model (DEM) and computes their isolation and topographic prominence. A new DEM is presented that covers the entire globe at 90 meter resolution with no substantial voids or artifacts. All peaks with at least 1 kilometer of isolation are found, and the closest higher ground is identified. For prominence, all peaks with at least ∼30 meters are found, and the key saddle is identified. The prominence algorithm uses results from Morse–Smale topology to run in parallel on standard, freely available elevation data. Thirteen previously unknown “ultra-prominent” mountains with at least 1500 meters of prominence are listed.

Keywords

Prominence isolation mountains digital elevation model

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