TopoToolbox 3 – improving the quality and reuse of a research software for terrain analysis

地球表面是构造力和侵蚀力以及生物和人类共同作用的结果。为了更深入地了解这些相互作用，精确的地形监测和分析是必不可少的，而数字高程模型（dem）是实现这一目标的有力工具。这就是TopoToolbox的用武之地。TopoToolbox是一个研究软件，为分析dem提供了一个“实验室”，促进定制，自动化分析，原型设计和创造性方法的开发。它的高计算效率、易用性和广泛的文档已经吸引了全球多个研究学科的用户群。在过去的十年中，TopoToolbox经历了许多发展和成就。本项目旨在以过去的成功为基础，将TopoToolbox提升到一个新的水平。具体来说，我们的目标有三个：(1)提高可用性和可访问性；(2)增强软件开发过程中的质量保证；(3)增加社区对TopoToolbox持续开发的参与。为了实现这些目标，我们将整合新的能力来处理非常大的网格和球面几何。我们还将编写新的代码，使TopoToolbox能够与其他高级编程语言（如Python和r）进行接口。为了加强质量保证，我们将实施严格的代码审查流程，建立文档标准，创建测试套件，并实现持续集成/持续开发管道。但是实现这些目标的关键是研究界的更多参与。我们将组织专门的活动，如黑客马拉松和会议研讨会，以吸引社区成员参与编程，文档，甚至是书籍项目。通过这些努力，我们将改进TopoToolbox的可用性，扩大其使用范围，并在新版本3中增加其影响。最终，TopoToolbox 3将更好地服务于促进和实现地球表面新研究的目的。

The Earth’s surface results from the fascinating interplay of tectonic and erosive forces, and the action of organisms and humans. To gain a deeper understanding of these interactions, accurate monitoring and analysis of topography is essential, and digital elevation models (DEMs) are powerful tools for achieving this goal. And this is where TopoToolbox comes in. TopoToolbox is a research software that provides a “laboratory” for the analysis of DEMs, fostering customized, automated analysis, prototyping and creative method development. Its high computational efficiency, ease-of-use and extensive documentation have attracted a worldwide user base across multiple research disciplines. Over the last ten years, TopoToolbox has undergone numerous developments and achievements. This project seeks to build on those past successes and take TopoToolbox to the next level. Specifically, our goals are threefold: (1) improve usability and accessibility, (2) enhance quality assurance in the software’s development process, and (3) increase community involvement in the ongoing development of TopoToolbox. To achieve these objectives, we will incorporate new capabilities to handle very large grids and spherical geometries. We will also write new code to enable TopoToolbox to interface with other high-level programming languages such as Python and R. To enhance quality assurance, we will implement a rigorous code review process, establish documentation standards, create test suites, and implement a continuous integration/continuous development pipeline. But the key to achieving these goals is greater involvement from the research community. We will organize dedicated events, such as a hackathon and workshops at conferences, to attract community members to participate in programming, documentation, and even a book project. With these efforts, we will improve TopoToolbox's usability, expand its usage, and increase its impact in a new version 3. Ultimately, TopoToolbox 3 will better serve its purpose of facilitating and enabling novel research on the Earth's surface.