RivMAP

RivMAP (River Morphodynamics from Analysis of Planforms) is a MATLAB toolbox for analyzing river planforms from binary channel masks.

This repository packages the original RivMAP MATLAB code for public visibility and reuse. It is being preserved as a first-class package, but it is not actively maintained.

What RivMAP does

Given one or more binary channel masks, RivMAP provides tools to compute:

• channel centerlines
• banklines
• channel width (two methods)
• centerline direction and curvature
• centerline migration areas
• erosion and accretion areas
• cutoff detection and cutoff metrics
• channel-belt boundaries and centerlines
• spatial and temporal summaries of planform change

The package also includes a demo dataset and walkthrough based on annual channel masks from the Ucayali River in Peru.

Repository layout

RivMAP/
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
├── CITATION.cff
├── .gitignore
├── src/        # MATLAB functions
├── examples/   # demo script
├── data/       # small demo datasets
└── docs/       # walkthrough and notes

Requirements

From the original MATLAB File Exchange release:

• MATLAB
• Image Processing Toolbox
• Mapping Toolbox for georeferenced image/vector stitching workflows

The File Exchange page lists the package as created with R2015a and compatible with any MATLAB release, but this repository does not currently provide a formal compatibility matrix.

Quick start

1. Open MATLAB.
2. Change into the repository root.
3. Add the source directory to your path:

   addpath(fullfile(pwd,'src'))

4. Run the demo:

   run(fullfile('examples','DEMO.m'))

The demo script in this repository has been lightly updated to use paths relative to the repository root instead of a machine-specific local path.

Included example data

This repository includes two demo data files:

• data/riv.mat
• data/riv_georeffed.mat

These are the same style of example assets used by the original File Exchange release and support the walkthrough in examples/DEMO.m and docs/RivMAP Demo Walkthrough.docx.

Paper

If you use RivMAP in research, please cite the associated paper:

Schwenk, J., Khandelwal, A., Fratkin, M., Kumar, V., & Foufoula-Georgiou, E. (2017).
High spatiotemporal resolution of river planform dynamics from Landsat: The RivMAP toolbox and results from the Ucayali River.
Earth and Space Science, 4(2), 46–75.
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016EA000196

Provenance

RivMAP was originally released through MATLAB Central File Exchange as:

RivMAP - River Morphodynamics from Analysis of Planforms
https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/58264-rivmap-river-morphodynamics-from-analysis-of-planforms

This GitHub-ready version keeps the original MATLAB code largely intact while making a few packaging changes for repository use:

• MATLAB functions moved into src/
• demo script moved into examples/
• demo data moved into data/
• walkthrough document moved into docs/
• demo script updated to use relative paths

Third-party components acknowledged in the original package

The original RivMAP package includes or references third-party MATLAB utilities, including:

• interparc.m (John D'Errico)
• intersections.m (Douglas M. Schwarz)
• savfilt.m (Vassili Pastushenko)
• getkey functionality used by hand_clean.m (Jos van der Geest)

Please retain the existing notices in LICENSE and the in-file headers if you redistribute modified versions.

Status

This code is preserved here for visibility, reuse, and citation. It should be treated as an archived MATLAB toolbox rather than an actively developed software project.