PERMAFROST AND PERIGLACIAL PROCESSES Permafrost Periglac. Process. 12: 79 – 92 (2001) DOI: 10.1002/ppp 384 Terrain Parameters and Remote Sensing Data in the Analysis of Permafrost Distribution and Periglacial Processes: Principles and Examples from Southern Norway Bernd Etzelm¨ uller, 1 * Rune S. Ødeg ˚ ard, 2 Ivar Berthling 1 and Johan Ludvig Sollid 1 1 Department of Physical Geography, University of Oslo, PO Box 1042, Blindern, N 0316-Oslo, Norway 2 Gjøvik College, Department of Technology, PO Box 191, N-2802 Gjøvik, Norway ABSTRACT Alpine permafrost and frost-related geomorphological processes are sensitive to climatic change. Thus, there is an increasing demand for permafrost maps in high-alpine environments. The objective of this paper is to present the application of terrain analysis and classification based on digital elevation models (DEMs) together with remotely sensed data (e.g. Landsat TM) in mapping of permafrost and slope activity as a supplement to existing methods. The study reviews principles and recent developments in this field, and presents three different approaches in the form of case studies from mountain areas of southern Norway. Copyright  2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. R ´ ESUM ´ E Le perg´ elisol alpin et les processus g´ eomorphologiques dus au gel sont sensibles aux changements de climat. II y a, en cons´ equence, une demande accrue de cartes du perg´ elisol dans les environnements de hautes altitudes. L’objectif de cet article est de pr´ esenter comment l’analyse du terrain et une classification du sol bas´ ee sur des mod` eles d’altitude, combin´ ees avec l’utilisation de donn´ ees de t´ el´ ed´ etection (Landsat TM), peuvent servir ` a cartographier le perg´ elisol et l’activit´ e g´ eomorphologique sur les versants, et constituer un suppl´ ement aux m´ ethodes d´ ej` a existantes. L’´ etude passe en revue les principes et les d´ eveloppements r´ ecents dans ce domaine et pr´ esente trois diff´ erentes approches dans des ´ etudes de cas de r´ egions montagneuses de Norv` ege m´ eridionale. Copyright  2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. KEY WORDS: DEM; geomorphometry; hazard assessment; Landsat TM; Norway; periglacial processes; permafrost modelling; remote sensing; terrain parameters; slope processes INTRODUCTION The objective of this paper is to present the application of terrain analysis and classification * Correspondence to: Dr B. Etzelm¨ uller, Department of Physical Geography, University of Oslo, PO Box 1042, Blindern, N 0316 Oslo, Norway. E-mail: bernde@geografi.uio.no Contract grant/sponsor: EU Environment and Climate Research Programme; Contract grant/number: ENV4-C797-0492. based on digital elevation models (DEMs) and remotely sensed data (e.g. Landsat TM) to mapping of permafrost distribution and slope activity within a GIS framework. The study reviews principles and recent developments in this field, and presents three case studies from mountain areas of southern Norway. There is an increasing practical demand for maps containing information concerning permafrost- and frost-related processes in high alpine environments. Received 28 August 2000 Copyright  2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Accepted 25 November 2000