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Comment on egusphere-2023-939
Summary
This comment paper proposes a framework for building river network models from geographic information system data to study environmental processes in rivers. Improved river modeling tools help predict how microplastics are transported and distributed through river networks to coastal ecosystems.
Abstract. Spatially explicit mathematical models are key to a mechanistic understanding of environmental processes in rivers. Such models necessitate extended information on networks' morphology, which is often retrieved from geographic information system (GIS) software, thus hindering the establishment of replicable, script-based workflows. Here I present rivnet, an R-package for GIS-free extraction and analysis of river networks based on digital elevation models (DEMs). The package exploits TauDEM's flow direction algorithm on user-provided or online accessible DEMs, and allows computing covariate values and assigning hydraulic variables across any network node. The package is designed so as to require minimal user input, while allowing customization for experienced users. It is specifically intended for application in models of ecohydrological, ecological or biogeochemical processes in rivers. As such, rivnet aims to make river network analysis accessible to users unfamiliar with GIS-based and geomorphological methods, and therefore enhance the use of spatially explicit models in rivers.
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