Quantitative Remote Sensing Analysis of the Geomorphological Development of the Lijiang River Basin, Southern China

The Lijiang River Basin is associated with a classic karst terrain characterized by conical hills that are referred to as karst towers. To date, few quantitative studies have been conducted on the geomorphological development of the river basin, in part, because it covers a large area of about 5800 km2, making it difficult to carry out a comprehensive quantitative analysis using traditional methods. This study using Landsat-8 OLI images and a digital elevation model firstly assesses the longitudinal profile of the Lijiang River, calculates the average bifurcation (bifurcation) ratio of the basin’s drainage network, and conducts a hypsometric (elevation) analysis of the Lijiang Basin. The stage of geomorphological development is quantitatively constrained. It is concluded that the Lijiang River is currently in the old stage of geomorphological development, the stream systems in the Lijiang River Basin are in a relatively balanced developmental stage and the geomorphological development is dominated by the old-stage (monadnock) landforms.