Determination of Terrain Serviceability of Military Vehicles by GIS Relief Analysis

This paper analyses capabilities of terrain serviceability ofvehicles in regards to the ground features. Two key relief attributesrelated to the slope inclination are defined, as well as reliefforms quantitatively defined as deviations of height above sea-level. As the secondary attribute, the topographic wetness indexis estimated, which, in correlation with the drainage coefficientyields the wetness value index as an essential factor of passablenessin the conditions of harder and more intensive precipitations,that is to say, sudden snow melting. By application ofGIS analysis, based on the digital model of space heights alongthe Kupa River from Pisarovina to SiSinec, the values of primaryand secondary relief attributes have been calculated, andthe analysis of Landsat satellite images has been used to definethe values of vegetation cover. Based on these values and dataon the soil type, the layer of ground wetness has been estimated.Cross Country Mobility Program of ESRI company, withinGIS program package Arc View 3.3. has been used to set themarginal values of the defined relief parameters and to estimatethe levels of mobility for single vehicles in different terrain conditions.The comparison of the obtained results clearly indicatesa possible application of the defined data in the analysisof terrain serviceability of military vehicles, with regard to therelief features of the terrain. For full applicability of the model itis also necessary to define other attributes of mobility related tohydrographical, vegetation, pedological, anthropogenic andother ground features.