Geocomputation of DEM Based Terrain Relief in Bulgaria Using GMT and R Scripting Approaches

This paper analyzes two scripting approaches for topographic and geodetic visualization and geomorphological modeling of Bulgaria: R language and Generic Mapping Tools (GMT). The data include high-resolution raster grids: topographic datasets (GEBCO, SRTM), geoid model based on Earth Gravitational Model 2008 (EGM-2008) and DEM for geomorphological modeling of terrain: slope, aspect, hillshade and elevation. Scripting mapping was used as a replacement of the standard GIS methods of data visualization by a programming approach which is beneficial for the mapping workflow in terms of effectiveness of data processing. The paper presents 7 new maps and concludes that mapping by R and GMT that incorporate shell scripting and finely adjusted controlling on cartographic plotting, along with expanded functionality of data visualization in GMT and geospatial modeling in R, have the greatest potential for contemporary cartographic and geodetic techniques