The Multi-Layer Cost Surface Generator is a QGIS plugin that combines digital elevation model (DEM) slope analysis with land-cover resistance mapping to create comprehensive cost surfaces for archaeological connectivity analysis.

The plugin supports multiple slope-to-resistance conversion methods (exponential, linear, biometric, anisotropic, and threshold-based) and allows users to assign resistance values to different land-cover categories. The resulting cost surfaces can be exported as ASCII rasters for use with circuit-theory tools like Circuitscape.

Key Features

• DEM Slope Analysis with multiple slope→resistance methods (exponential, linear, biometric, anisotropic, threshold).
• Land cover resistance mapping with automatic category detection and CSV import/export.
• Temporary file control for processing large rasters.
• Export to ASCII raster (.asc) for downstream circuit-theory tools.
• Progress reporting and user-friendly UI in QGIS.

Usage Notes

The plugin expects a DEM and a categorical land-cover raster loaded in QGIS. Use the "Analyze Land Cover Values" button to populate categories, set resistance values (0-1), choose slope weight and method, and generate the combined cost surface.

Technical & Development

Author: Marco Birkedahl Jørgensen

Repository and issue tracker: GitHub

Download / Install

Manual installation instructions and a ZIP install option are available in the plugin README on the GitHub repository. Outputs are ASCII rasters compatible with most circuit analysis tools.