Patent ID: 7596418

Claim:
A system for producing erosionally stable fluvial geomorphic landscape designs in a computer aided design environment, said system comprising: a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, wherein said computer readable program code is executable by a computer, and said computer includes: a topography input module configured to access a three-dimensional model of existing topography of a site; a data input module configured to receive data associated with the site, including drainage density and precipitation data in the range of at least an annual precipitation event to a 50-year recurrence precipitation event, to calculate a discharge value for the discharge of storm water from the site; a channel geometry module configured to divide the discharge value by a maximum desired discharge flow velocity to generate cross-sectional dimensions for a plurality of proposed ephemeral channels and ridges disposed therebetween; the cross-sectional dimensions being sufficient to convey discharge in the range of at least an annual precipitation event to a 50-year recurrence precipitation event; the cross-sectional dimensions being re-calculated iteratively at locations along the lengths of the channels to adjust the channel dimensions to reflect incremental increases in watershed area and flow in the downstream direction; and a design surface module configured to generate plan and elevational views of a proposed landform at the site using the existing topography, the channels, and the ridges; wherein a three-dimensional model of the proposed landform is created according to fluvial geomorphic principles and site-specific data.