Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The term elevation is mainly used when referring to points on the Earth's surface, while altitude or geopotential height is used for points above the surface, such as an aircraft in flight or a spacecraft in orbit, and depth is used for points below the surface. Elevation histogram of the Earth's surface
Although the term altitude is commonly used to mean the height above sea level of a location, in geography the term elevation is often preferred for this usage. In aviation, altitude is typically measured relative to mean sea level or above ground level to ensure safe navigation and flight operations.
Height is normal to the plane formed by the length and width. Height is also used as a name for some more abstract definitions. These include: The height or altitude of a triangle, which is the length from a vertex of a triangle to the line formed by the opposite side; The height of a pyramid, which is the smallest distance from the apex to the ...
In that case the third coordinate may be called height or altitude. The orientation is usually chosen so that the 90-degree angle from the first axis to the second axis looks counter-clockwise when seen from the point (0, 0, 1) ; a convention that is commonly called the right-hand rule .
The process of drawing the altitude from a vertex to the foot is known as dropping the altitude at that vertex. It is a special case of orthogonal projection. Altitudes can be used in the computation of the area of a triangle: one-half of the product of an altitude's length and its base's length (symbol b) equals the triangle's area: A = h b /2 ...
In cartography, a contour line (often just called a "contour") joins points of equal elevation (height) above a given level, such as mean sea level. [3] A contour map is a map illustrated with contour lines, for example a topographic map , which thus shows valleys and hills, and the steepness or gentleness of slopes. [ 4 ]
Many vertical coordinates exist for expressing vertical position: depth, height, altitude, elevation, etc. Points lying on an equigeopotential surface are said to be on the same vertical level, as in a water level. A function with domain along the vertical line is called a vertical distribution or vertical profile.
Instead of the radial distance r geographers commonly use altitude above or below some local reference surface (vertical datum), which, for example, may be the mean sea level. When needed, the radial distance can be computed from the altitude by adding the radius of Earth, which is approximately 6,360 ± 11 km (3,952 ± 7 miles).