
TOPAZ is a Software GemBy Tara
Weaver-Missick April 2, 1999A computer program that helps researchers investigate soil erosion and water
runoff problems by giving a detailed analysis of land topography has been
developed by Agricultural Research
Service scientists and cooperators in Canada. ARS is
USDAs chief research agency. ARS scientist Jurgen Garbrecht and professor Lawrence Martz from the
University of Saskatchewan, Canada,
developed the software program called
TOPAZ. The name is an
abbreviation of Topographic Parameterization, a computer analysis
tool that defines, quantifies and analyzes land surface characteristics,
watershed information and drainage features. The collaboration between Garbrecht and Martz is part of an international
research effort to develop and implement digital landscape technology to help
address drainage- and runoff-related problems. TOPAZ has already gone global. Researchers, engineers and educators in
Europe, the Middle East and North America are using it. TOPAZ does not create graphic images on the computer monitor, but derives
important landscape data that can be displayed by a commercial Geographic
Information System (GIS) package. Garbrecht, a hydraulic engineer with
ARS Grazinglands Research
Laboratory in El Reno, Okla., says this allows the user to select preferred
or existing display software without being forced to adopt or buy another
package. TOPAZ provides data in a basic format that is readable by most GIS
systems. New capabilities are being developed and incorporated into TOPAZ to further
broaden its application. Copies of TOPAZ are available on request from
Garbrecht. An in-depth article on this research appears in the April issue of Agricultural Research magazine.
The story is also on the World Wide Web at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/apr99/topaz0499.htm Scientific contact: Jurgen D. Garbrecht,
ARS Grazinglands Research Laboratory, El Reno, Okla., phone (405) 262-4316, fax
(405) 262-0133, [email protected]. Story contacts Grazinglands Research Laboratory Jurgen D Garbrecht U.S. Department of Agriculture | |