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A barometric altimeter, used along with a topographic map, can help to verify one's location. It is more reliable, and often more accurate, than a GPS receiver for measuring altitude; the GPS signal may be unavailable, for example, when one is deep in a canyon, or it may give wildly inaccurate altitudes when all available satellites are near the horizon.
Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level varies in different countries due to different reference points and historic measurement periods.
Mount Whitney is the highest summit of the Sierra Nevada, the State of California, and the contiguous United States.. This is a complete list of the 12 summits with elevation higher than 14,000 feet (4,267 m) in the U.S. state of California, with at least 300 feet (91.44 meters) of topographic prominence.
When flying at a flight level, the altimeter is always set to standard pressure (29.92 inHg or 1013.25 hPa). On the flight deck, the definitive instrument for measuring altitude is the pressure altimeter, which is an aneroid barometer with a front face indicating distance (feet or metres) instead of atmospheric pressure.
Of the most prominent summits of California, only Mount Whitney exceeds 3000 meters (9843 feet) of topographic prominence. Five peaks exceed 2000 meters (6562 feet), nine peaks are ultra-prominent summits with more than 1500 meters (4921 feet), and 35 peaks exceed 1000 meters (3281 feet) of topographic prominence.
The greater the altitude, the lower the pressure. When a barometer is supplied with a nonlinear calibration so as to indicate altitude, the instrument is a type of altimeter called a pressure altimeter or barometric altimeter. A pressure altimeter is the altimeter found in most aircraft, and skydivers use wrist-mounted versions for similar ...
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Map of California topography and geomorphic provinces California's major mountain ranges. California is a U.S. state on the western coast of North America. Covering an area of 163,696 sq mi (423,970 km 2), California is among the most geographically diverse states.