How would I use a 2D array based on a topographical map to determine the steepest direction at each point?

You see, for a group project at my college we are trying to simulate rainfall on a topographical surface. My job is to take a 2D array based on this surface and use its data to determine the steepest direction at each point. And use that to create a vector field. Unfortunatly I have very little idea of how to go about this.

If anyone has any advice, I'd really appreciate it.

Answer 1

[John D'Errico]

You should be talking to your teacher, as these are questions they should be answering. But what does the gradient function do? (You might guess from the name.)

Once you can compute the gradient of a surface at any point, what does the gradient vector tell you? (Again, if you have no idea, talk to your teacher. Or maybe read your notes.)

[Maxim]

Thank you so much for the response! I actually did not know about the gradient function until reading your answer, so thank you for the help!

Answer 2

[Image Analyst]

Try imgradient or imgradientxy

Since this is a homework problem, if you have any questions ask your instructor or read the link below to get started:

How do I get help on homework questions on MATLAB Answers? - MATLAB Answers - MATLAB Central

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Another resource that MathWorks Central offers is the AI Chat Playground (on the blue banner above). You can paste your problem text into there and get code. However to be ethical you need to make sure that your professor is willing to accept AI generated code as your own. If he/she is against that and wants you to create your own code, and you submit code from AI or other people, you could be running a risk.