ABSTRACT
DESCRIPTION Although it is possible to describe hillslopes using purely qualitative terms such as 'convex' or 'conical', such an approach is of limited value. The terms are open to misinterpretation and do not allow accurate comparisons. A more restrictive approach is to define description as the task of converting measurements of hillslope form into quantitative statements. It is this approach that will be adopted here. Inasmuch as the majority of measurements on hillslopes have been of gradient so, too, does quantitative description depend heavily upon this attribute of hillslope form.
