UMBC: Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education

Spring 2026 Seminar Series 

virtually presents

Dr. Matthew Baker and Dr. Andrew J. Miller

UMBC: Department of Geography and Environmental Systems

"The Geomorphic Signature of Urbanizing Landscapes"

Friday, March 6, 2026

2:00 PM online

WebEx Link

This seminar is free and open to the public.

Abstract

Urbanization leaves a persistent geomorphic imprint through systematic terrain modification. Anthropogenic changes typically occur at fine spatial scales and accumulate over time to reshape landforms in characteristic ways. High-resolution topographic data enable detection of these signatures independently of land cover or other remote-sensing proxies. We developed a new terrain-based metric, the SlopeCV Index, to quantify the geomorphic signature of modern urban development from 1-m LiDAR data. The index measures local slope variability within 15-m neighborhoods and aggregates it over broader scales (150 m) to distinguish patterns and intensities of development. Applied largely to the Maryland Piedmont (USA), the SlopeCV Index effectively characterized terrain modification across a gradient of urbanization, capturing both the extent and intensity of anthropogenic alteration. It tracked temporal changes in surface form across development types, from suburban expansion to regraded uplands, and revealed systematic fragmentation of low-order flowpaths and increasing hillslope-to-channel distances—associated with alterations to surface routing and stream burial. This simple, topographic approach offers a quantitative means to map and interpret the geomorphic consequences of urbanization. The SlopeCV Index may provide a transferable framework for assessing landscape transformation and its hydrologic implications across diverse physiographic and climatic settings.

Bios

Matthew Baker is a Professor of Geography & Environmental Systems at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He holds a BA in English and Ecology from Emory University (1992), a MS in Forest Ecology (1996), and PhD in Aquatic Ecology (2002) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Before landing at UMBC in 2008, he was a faculty member at Utah State University and a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. His research interests include: watershed, urban forest, and landscape ecology; biodiversity, hydrology, geomorphology, and biogeochemistry in urban and rural systems; riparian ecosystems; and geospatial applications. His "work" includes shooting lasers, flying drones, mapping channels, hugging trees, digging in the dirt, splashing in streams, and getting stuck in the mud. 

Andrew J. Miller is Professor Emeritus in Geography & Environmental Systems at UMBC. He is interested in the hydrology, hydraulics and geomorphology of extreme floods with a particular focus on urban floods and more recently on the potential impact of climate trends on rainfall intensity and flood frequency. Additional research interests include fate and transport of sediment in the landscape, including sediment released by dam removal as well as historical legacy sediment stored in valley bottoms; the effectiveness of stream restoration and other approaches to mitigation of the consequences of urban development and urban runoff; and the application of Structure from Motion, 2-d hydraulic modeling, and Particle Image Velocimetry to simulate or reconstruct flood flows. He is interested more generally in watershed-scale response to environmental stress and to restoration efforts.

Host: 

Claire Welty
Director, Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education