Advancing the GEOtiled Framework Through Scalable Terrain Parameter Computation

The GEOtiled framework facilitates the scalable and efficient computation of high-resolution terrain parameters using Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) across the Continental United States (CONUS). These parameters are essential in Earth Science applications. This paper presents significant advances to optimizing GEOtiled's performance. In GEOtiled 2.0, we introduce three key optimizations to speed up GEOtiled's overall runtime: concurrent cropping, efficient mosaic operation, and unified parallel processing. These optimizations improve data distribution and handling, reducing computation times while maintaining accuracy. We evaluate performance using DEM data at 30-meter resolution over a region covering the state of Tennessee. Our results demonstrate that the optimized framework provides substantial performance improvements for generating terrain parameters. GEOtiled 2.0 software, openly available on GitHub, advances reproducible, data-driven scientific discovery in Earth Science.